Ukraine’s president sent greetings for Israel’s Independence Day. Israel is “our important partner in the Middle East,” Viktor Yuschenko
said in a letter to Acting President Dalia Itzik, adding that he
wished “peace, stability and prosperity” to the “friendly Israeli
people.”
The address came two weeks after Israel declined to host Yuschenko, who
wanted to pay his first state visit to Israel to coincide with
Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israel said the timing was inconvenient for a
state visit because Israel accepts many foreign delegations on that day.
In the first two years of his tenure, Yuschenko canceled state visits to Israel at least three
times. Some observers said the
cancellations were due to mixed feelings about the Middle East among senior Ukrainian diplomats.
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