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Al Jazeera Net – Exclusive
Israeli-Russian relations are going through a new turning point due to the impact of the war in Gaza Which broke out a few weeks after the Israeli ambassador to… Moscow Last September, there was an agreement for cooperation in the field of cinema with the Russian Minister of Culture, which was then officially condemned by the US State Department.
The agreement was considered an affirmation by Tel Aviv of its keenness that its relationship with Moscow would not be negatively affected by the impact of the war in Ukraine, and evidence of its ignoring Western pressure to isolate Russia internationally, a position in addition to its refusal to provide Kyiv With missile defense systems despite repeated appeals from the Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky.
A new turn
And after 10 full days of launching Hamas With its surprise attack on the Gaza Strip settlements on October 7, the Russian President called Vladimir Putin With the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He offered his condolences to the victims of the attack, in a late step compared to his counterparts from the leaders of Western countries who immediately flocked to Israel to show solidarity and support with it.
During the call, Putin also expressed his willingness to participate in resolving the crisis through peaceful means, while most Western capitals declared their full support for waging war on Gaza.
But Putin’s call was followed by a set of Russian steps disturbing Israel, which Moscow used as companions Beijing veto (Veto) in Security Council Against a draft resolution submitted by Malta that calls for humanitarian truces in Gaza and condemns Hamas, claiming that it is unbalanced.
On the other hand, Moscow presented an alternative project calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and Russia’s delegate to the United Nations spoke, saying, “We heard allegations of the presence of Hamas sites in hospitals and mosques, and we have not seen evidence yet.” The most disturbing step came when the Russian Foreign Ministry hosted a Hamas-led delegation Musa Abu Marzouk Despite the Israeli condemnation.
In response to the above, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, condemned Moscow under the pretext of using the October 7 attack to distract the world’s attention from the invasion of Ukraine, and described Russia as the last country that can teach Israel morality.
Voices rose in Israel calling for a change in its policy towards Moscow. Shai Levy wrote in “Israel Defense” calling for dealing with Russia as an adversary, the need to unify positions with the West in the Ukraine war, and to begin providing weapons to Kiev.
But they were considered reckless calls and the Israeli government is not expected to accept them, as it realizes that supplying weapons to Ukraine will push Russia to supply Syria and Iran with advanced S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, which will hinder the freedom of flight of aircraft. Israeli airspace in Syria.
Volatile relationships
With the end of the Cold War, Israeli-Russian diplomatic relations were officially restored at the end of 1991 after they were severed by Moscow following the 1967 war.
With President Putin assuming power in 1999, the relations of the two sides witnessed a radical transformation from open hostility and proxy war in the Soviet era to building a cooperative relationship that works to fragment points of friction and avoid crossing red lines.
Putin was the first Russian president to visit Israel, where he visited in 2005 and then again in 2012.
Over the past three decades, Russia and Israel have shared a set of overlapping interests, foremost of which is cooperation in the so-called “fight against terrorism” file, especially during the era of the Russian wars in Chechnya, and in confronting terrorist organizations. Islamic country AndAl-Qaeda.
They also shared their concerns Arab Spring revolutions In light of their fear of the rise of Islamic movements and their assumption of power in several countries in the Middle East. The influx of Jewish immigrants from Russia to Israel after the disintegration contributed soviet union In strengthening community relations between the two parties, as their number reached about one million immigrants, making Russian the fourth language in Israel next to Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
Israel was not disturbed by the Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015, as it saw in it an opportunity for Moscow to become involved as a committed player in the larger regional equation with the ability to control the rhythm of the conflict and prevent this country from falling into the hands of the Islamic opposition, in addition to its ability to prevent the spread of elements. Lebanese Hezbollah AndIran’s Revolutionary Guards South Syria near The occupied Golan.
These considerations required strengthening military and diplomatic communication channels between Israel and Russia to prevent clashes between them, and to allow Israeli aircraft to launch raids on Syrian and Iranian targets.
Also, Tel Aviv had hopes that it would be able to exploit the developed relations with Moscow to put pressure on… Tehran To curb the expansion of its regional influence.
Tel Aviv has adapted to Russia’s re-emergence as a global and regional player, and has avoided zero-sum trade-offs regarding Russia’s confrontation with the West over… Crimea And Ukraine maneuvered against Western pressure while taking into account the requirements of its alliance with Washington.
With the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022, the then Israeli Prime Minister traveled Naftali Bennett He went to Moscow the following month to meet with the Russian President, under the pretext of working to end the war, as part of Israel’s attempts to maintain its relationship with Russia by playing a mediation role without harming its relationship with America and the West.
Within this context, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced in September 2022 its adherence to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and not to recognize the results of the independence referendum conducted by Russia in the eastern regions of the country.
But at the same time, it did not engage in imposing economic sanctions on Moscow, refused to send military aid to Ukraine, and contented itself with receiving several thousand Ukrainian refugees and some injured for treatment, and sending medical and other non-offensive military equipment such as helmets.
Current tension
With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, signs of tension appeared in Russian-Israeli relations, with Iranian-Russian relations deepening due to cooperation between the two countries, in the face of Western sanctions imposed on them, and Tehran providing drones to Russia.
The first manifestations of tension emerged during the era of the previous Israeli government following Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s statement in April 2022 that Russia was committing war crimes in Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to him with a lengthy statement in which it said that his statements were rejected and “are trying to exploit the situation around Ukraine to divert the attention of the international community from the suffering of more than 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, as well as the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip in an open prison for almost 14 years, as Israel continues to… “The longest occupation in world history.”
The following month, Moscow invited a Hamas-led delegation Musa Abu Marzouk To visit her, she then received the head of the movement’s political bureau Ismail HaniyehThe Ministry of Justice also decided to suspend the activities of the Jewish Agency in the country, and consider dissolving its branch under the pretext of illegally collecting information about Russian citizens.
The Gaza War and Moscow’s gains
With the outbreak of the recent war on Gaza, Moscow saw several gains in it, the most notable of which were: international attention diverted from the war in Ukraine, and the United States’ preoccupation with a new battle front, which was reflected in a decline in arms supplies to Kiev.
Moscow worked to employ the American bias towards Israel to build a narrative that strengthens Russia’s legitimacy and its presence in the Arab and Islamic world, through Putin’s talk about Washington’s disregard for the legitimate historical rights of the Palestinian people.
Russia seeks to show the Gaza war as evidence of the failure of Western policies, to present itself as a mediator versus Washington’s bias, and to appear as a peacemaker versus the war-making colonial West.
Russia has confirmed that it does not classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, and summoned a delegation of its cadres after the operation Al-Aqsa flood.
In general, Russia is exploiting the war in Gaza to strengthen its international standing, and exploiting its repercussions in the broader confrontation with the West, which aims, in its long term, to undermine American hegemony internationally and establish a multipolar international system.
There is no doubt that such a transformation will result in fluctuations in Russia’s relations with international powers and parties that are less important than the United States, as in the case of Israel, without the matter turning into a rupture given the presence of common interests between them on many issues.
