In his speech to the Security Council last week, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, called for sanctions to be imposed on Israel for not complying with the Security Council’s resolution demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during Ramadan.
Nebenzya’s call is a new and disturbing phase in the ever-increasing tensions between Israel and Russia, which since the outbreak of the Gaza war and even before that has distanced itself from Jerusalem and downplayed, if not abandoned its long-standing commitment to the Jewish state’s security and right to self-defense.
The strengthening of relations between Russia and Iran on the security, military and political level is a source of great concern in Jerusalem.
The lack of clear condemnation of the unprecedented Iranian attack against Israel (350 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles) has caused severe disappointment in Israel. Little by little, Russia is simply ignoring its long-standing traditional position of commitment to Israel’s security on the one hand, while failing to take into account the fact that over a million Russians live in Israel and support Israel’s right to self-defense.
The impression one gets in Israel is that Moscow does not understand the Israeli public and the increasingly negative image it creates for itself here.
In Jerusalem, the statements coming out of Moscow since October 7 are being followed with real concern. Russia showed zero empathy toward Israel, avoided condemning Hamas and even hosted the Hamas leadership in Moscow twice already. But still what shocked officials in Israel most was Russia’s response to the Iranian attack. The Russians were simply not shy to say out loud: We are on ‘Team Iran.’
It is instructive to listen carefully to what Putin’s mouthpieces say. Dmitri Rogozin, a senator who held very senior security positions, said that in the event of a major war between Iran and Israel, Iran will defeat Israel.
He also said that there are no good soldiers in the Israeli army except for new immigrants from Russia who today serve in special units in the IDF. “I think Iran will manage on its own, but relations between Iran and Russia are very important. Iran has learned many lessons from what is happening in Ukraine. Iran benefits a lot from economic and energy cooperation with Russia,” said Rogozin, adding that “Iran has every right to choose any method of self-defense if it needs to.”
To this should be added the fact that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to answer the question of whether Tehran informed Moscow in advance of the planned attacks on Israel. “I can’t tell you anything here,” he answered when pressed by journalists.
No comments:
Post a Comment