Adviser to Ukraine’s president touts Israel as a model

Ukraine would benefit from Israeli expertise when it comes to security and stability, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a National Press Club Newsmaker event Nov. 14.

Oleg Mahnitskyi, Ukraine’s former prosecutor general, said his country “should learn from the experience of the surviving of a state in the conditions of war.” He said Poroshenko should “invite Israeli instructors just as we invite American instructors.”

In the State of Israel, “the security systems have automatically adapted and any provocation is not left without response,” Mahnitskyi said, speaking through a translator. “At the same time this approach doesn’t mean military dictatorship. On the contrary, it provides for the preservation of democratic institutions."

Ongoing clashes between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military in the eastern regions have cost some 4,000 lives, according to the latest estimates by the United Nations.

“It’s highly unlikely the conflict will be resolved in the near future,” Mahnitskyi said. “We see a huge concentration of [Ukrainian] forces in the problematic regions” fighting what he called “gangs, criminals, and mercenaries,” resulting in “people dying every day.”

He said there was “cooperation” between the U.S. and Ukrainian military, but did not reveal further details, citing national security concerns.

Ukraine has requested weapons and equipment from the U.S. for months, most notably when Poroshenko addressed Congress in September.

While he did not address the issue specifically, Mahnitskyi said he has “great hopes” for Vice President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to the country on Nov. 21, and expressed his gratitude to the Obama Administration for its “consultations” and “assistance.”

But he was decidedly critical of the new Ukrainian parliament, which was elected last month, for moving too slowly on the appointment of cabinet ministers, as well as the investigations into the deaths of the Euromaidan protesters.

“When I headed the Prosecutor General’s office, we gathered massive evidence of the fault of special units in mass murder of people at Maidan in mid-February of this year,” Mahnitskyi said. “However following my resignation these materials were never delivered to the court.”

Mahnitksyi said he was not scheduled to meet with any U.S. officials during his visit, instead attending the annual conference held by the Ukrainian American Bar Association.