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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Military-political expert Oleksiy Kopytko stated that an acceptable settlement for Ukraine with Russia will need to be sought not in a bilateral format, but in a much wider—multilateral and multi-level—framework. In his view, Israel has historically operated in exactly such an environment, so the analyst examined in detail how that country built a system of allies and partners over decades, and what from that experience might be useful for Kyiv, where the negotiation format has not yet been finally determined. The expert emphasized that this is not a finished expert opinion, but a generalization based on open information. He compared Israel’s approaches to building international support with the Ukrainian situation, drawing attention to how the Israelis for years undermined the unity of their opponents and expanded a network of partners on the periphery of hostile encirclement.
Kopytko wrote about his observations in a post on the social network Facebook. The analyst noted that for Ukraine it is typical to search for some universal image of the state to promote in the world, which is methodologically difficult given the diversity of the world. By contrast, Israel, he said, in addition to the image of a “startup nation,” has historically used at least two other tried-and-true constructions: the image of a small Jewish state surrounded by hostile Arab-Muslim neighbors for democratic societies, and at the same time the image of a strong player that keeps disparate opponents under control for parts of the world where less attention is paid to human rights rhetoric.
“In fact we observe another aspect: a large David keeps a group of disparate Goliaths on edge. Clearly showing that it can repel attacks, but it is also possible to reach mutually beneficial agreements,” said expert Oleksiy Kopytko.
Kopytko explained that the approach of not aggravating relations simultaneously with several opponents and of fragmenting negative opposition lies at the heart of Israeli tactics since the 1970-ies, when the country broke the unified position of the Arab states and gradually negotiated separately with Egypt and Jordan. In his assessment, the lack of Arab-Muslim unity is to a large extent the result of effective work by Israeli diplomacy and intelligence services over decades.
Separately, the analyst examined the so-called operational slice—specific examples of how Israel secures a foothold on the periphery of a hostile environment while active fighting continues within its immediate perimeter in southern Lebanon, in Syria, on the West Bank, and in Gaza. Among the examples the expert named warm defense cooperation with Morocco, which was the first to announce readiness to send police to Gaza as part of stabilization forces, the opening of a museum of Moroccan Jewish culture in the city of Fez 12 October 2026 of the year, and a museum dedicated to the Jewish community in the premises of a historic Jewish school in Baghdad that same month.
Kopytko also mentioned that at the end of December 2025 the state of Israel officially recognized Somaliland, which opened a beachhead for influence over the Houthis, and Somaliland in turn opened a representation in Jerusalem. Among examples on the northern direction the analyst cited a number of concrete agreements:
military cooperation with Albania since 2023 and the restoration of an aviation school by Elbit Systems in 2025
an agreement for Greece to buy an air defense/anti-missile system from Israel for 3 billion euros 31 August 2026
Cyprus’s purchase of a combat ship from Israel 22 October 2026
the opening of a rifle-production plant by ARI Arms in Azerbaijan 8 October 2026
Kazakhstan’s agreements with Israel on cooperation in the space sphere following the results of an intergovernmental commission 2 November
According to the expert, one interesting storyline is Israel’s parallel tracks of cooperation with Serbia and Kosovo: Kosovo opened a representation in Jerusalem after Israel’s recognition in February 2021, while with Serbia large-scale defense cooperation is developing, including the opening of a plant assembling Israeli drones in the country in 17 September 2026.
“The logic is quite clear: the list of materialized projects over the last 2–3 months is impressive. A deep cultural-historical layer intersects with cybersecurity and armaments,” Oleksiy Kopytko noted.
The analyst added that he does not consider Israel’s actions flawless or deserving of unconditional support, mentioning in particular Israel’s cooperation with the Russian side and the fierce competition on the arms market. However, in his view, the results that the Israelis achieve by infiltrating and securing themselves first in hostile environments are hard to ignore even at a practical observational level.
Why the topic became topical now
Kopytko explained that he turned to the Israeli experience because of several circumstances. First, a process of government formation began in Israel following the elections: the mandate to form a government was received by the leader of the opposition party Yashar, former IDF chief of staff General Gadi Eizenkot, whom 67 newly elected Knesset members entrusted with confidence. Second, the analyst pointed to a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump about a readiness to stop military aid to Israel in the amount of 3,8 billion dollars, which provoked a strong reaction from part of Israeli society. The expert noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long promoted the idea of maximal national self-reliance and as early as 2026 said directly of an intention to reduce U.S. aid to zero within ten years.
Earlier Informator reported that negotiations to end the war should encompass a new architecture of European security, political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko said, commenting on statements by U.S. administration representatives ahead of a trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi. In his assessment, the key question remains who will represent Europe in negotiations with Russia and in what format this will take place. We also wrote that Trump’s special representative Jared Kushner spoke about talks in Brussels on security guarantees for Ukraine, naming among the key directions of the new security architecture permanent consultations, reliable crisis communication channels, and increased military transparency.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Експерт Копитько порівняв досвід Ізраїлю з пошуком формату врегулювання для України - потрібен інший підхід". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Informator.
