Israeli Vice Premier and Minister for Construction Natan Shcharansky, who heads an Israeli interdepartmental committee extending aid to the next of kin of those who perished in the crash of the ill-fated Tu-154 airliner brought down by a wayward Ukrainian missile over the Black Sea, expressed hope that now that Ukraine has fully claimed responsibility, it will not take years of court litigation to solve the issue of indemnifying the relatives, which is possible in theory, but “the Ukrainian government will take swift, decisive, and responsible action.” Russia played a positive role “in making the truth public as soon as possible,” ITAR-TASS quoted the Israeli official as saying. He also stressed the role of the USA, which was quick to provide its satellite intelligence on the incident. According to UNIAN, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Anna Azari stated during her sojourn in Lviv that the Tu-154 crash will not have a negative impact bilateral relations. According to her, no one ever assumed that the plane was brought down intentionally. The only problem was that the Ukrainian military attempted to evade responsibility. At the same time, Ambassador Azari admitted that the incident has nonetheless left a bad aftertaste.
