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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 'They don’t forgive this kind of thing.' Israeli opposition makes claims against Russia |
| 2024-02-02 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Semenov [REGNUM] The Israeli leadership needs to reconsider its relations with Russia because of Moscow's position on the conflict in the Gaza Strip. This opinion was expressed by the chairman of the Yesh Atid party and leader of the opposition in the Knesset, Yair Lapid, in a conversation with the Israeli portal Vesti. “Israel will find it difficult to forgive Russia and its leadership for the position they have taken for a very long time. There is no doubt that the country's leadership must reconsider its position towards Russia. States do not break off relations just like that, but they also do not forgive in the event of such an insult,” Lapid said. Lapid was referring to the fact that Russia hosted Hamas delegations in Moscow several times after October 7, did not sever its ties with this Palestinian group and continues to advocate for the creation of a Palestinian state. It also accused Tel Aviv of using disproportionate force in Gaza in response to the October 7 attack, which Russia also condemns and considers a terrorist attack. At the same time, Russia has its own list of grievances against the Israeli leadership and especially against Lapid, who is now in opposition, who from June 2021 to December 2022 was the head of the Foreign Ministry in the cabinet of Naftali Bennett. According to the agreements, Lapid was supposed to replace him as prime minister in September 2023 if the government had not resigned. Therefore, the government itself was called the Bennett-Lapid cabinet. Bucha and Lapid You can recall Lapid’s position regarding the famous fake in Bucha. Then, without waiting for all the circumstances and facts to be established, he began to broadcast the Ukrainian point of view and stated that “it is impossible to remain indifferent to the horrific pictures that opened near Kiev.” The then head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry openly accused Moscow of “deliberately causing harm” to civilians on the territory of Ukraine and called Russia’s actions “war crimes.” This marked a major shift in the rhetoric of the Jewish state, which had previously tried to play the role of mediator. While other Middle Eastern states that consider themselves partners with Russia - such as Arab countries or Turkey - only called for an impartial investigation into these events, distancing themselves from any accusations against Moscow. Previously, Russia and Israel managed to get around sharp corners even after the tragedy that happened in 2018 with the Russian Il-20 military aircraft. It was shot down by mistake by Syrian air defenses, which repelled an attack by the Israeli Air Force, which was carried out in the area where the Russian aircraft was flying. Then responsibility for the death of the Il-20 was placed on Israel, but the incident did not lead to a serious deterioration in bilateral ties. Nevertheless, from that moment on, the knot of Russian-Israeli contradictions became increasingly entangled. The first negative trends in bilateral relations began to appear during the previous premiership of Benjamin Netanyahu (2009–2021), but they manifested themselves most clearly after the Bennett-Lapid cabinet came to power. If we talk about ties between Tel Aviv and Kyiv, they have noticeably intensified after this government came to power in Israel. It is also worth noting here that both countries have previously tried to enlist mutual support in the UN - Israel voted for anti-Russian resolutions, and Ukraine voted against anti-Israel ones. Kyiv supported Tel Aviv on the Palestinian track, taking an unambiguously pro-Israeli position during periods of escalation around the Gaza Strip. While the Russian approach, especially taking into account Moscow’s contacts with Hamas and Iran, is often regarded in Israel as pro-Palestinian. Military ties between Kyiv and Tel Aviv Military ties between Kyiv and Tel Aviv were also being established. In particular, IDF troops took part in the Sea Breeze 2021 exercise in Ukraine. And the Ukrainian media, even before the start of the Russian special operation, began to report that Israel and Ukraine were cooperating in the defense sector, although they were trying not to advertise it. “Information about defense cooperation between Ukraine and Israel for 2022 has never been raised anywhere. It may seem that cooperation between countries in this aspect ends with supporting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but this is not so. Ukraine is interested in purchasing communications systems and certain types of weapons from Israel. Israeli Ambassador to Kiev Mikhail Brodsky, commenting on defense cooperation between the countries, said that negotiations are ongoing and are ongoing, there is a certain cooperation, but this cooperation has understandable limitations,” Ukrainian media wrote. Israeli steps towards the Kyiv regime did not go unnoticed by the Kremlin. Especially if we were talking about the participation of Israeli officers in supporting the Ukrainian armed forces and the exchange of intelligence information, which the militaries of the two countries could agree on even before the start of the Northern Military District. Agreements could have been reached, among other things, during the visit of Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov to Israel in December 2021. Then, probably, the parties came to an agreement on new parameters of interaction in the military sphere, which, however, they tried not to disclose, and the visit itself was kept out of sight of the general public. It is possible that the well-known statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a “historical vein” were made at the moment when it became known about the participation of the Mossad and other Israeli intelligence services in supporting and informing the Ukrainian troops. Israel also began to transfer various weapons systems that were considered “non-lethal” to the Kyiv regime. Thus, in mid-September 2022, Israeli media reported that an Israeli weapons manufacturer was supplying anti-UAV systems to Ukraine through Poland. Sales were carried out through Warsaw in order to circumvent Tel Aviv's refusal to sell modern weapons to Ukraine. The firm reportedly informed the Israeli Ministry of Security that it was selling weapons to Poland, although it pretended not to know that the latter was then transferring the weapons to Kyiv for use against Russia. And in January 2023, already under the current Netanyahu cabinet, some “American weapons stored in Israel were transferred to the American armed forces, and then to Ukraine. ” According to some reports, it was also about American ammunition stored in Israel. Then they came to Ukraine, but, according to representatives of the Jewish state, these weapons did not belong to Israel. It is noted that this “military equipment” was returned to the Americans, at their request, for transfer to Ukraine. Whether these were really American weapons or whether Israel “groped” for a supply scheme is difficult to verify in the current conditions. But it cannot be ruled out that if the conflict in Gaza ends before the Northeast Military District in Ukraine, then the remaining surplus from American supplies to Israel to fight Hamas could also be transferred by Israel to the Kyiv regime, as supposedly (or actually) belonging to the United States. Additionally, in February 2023, Tel Aviv approved export licenses for two Israeli companies to sell electronic warfare systems with a range of about 40 kilometers that can be used to defend against drone attacks. They were approved by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Then, during his visit to Kiev, Cohen informed Vladimir Zelensky about this decision. It should be borne in mind that there may be other deliveries of Israeli weapons and military equipment to Ukraine that are not advertised and are carried out through third countries. This could also be hinted at by the Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prozor, who in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe reported “behind the scenes” assistance from Israel for the Kiev regime. “So we help - albeit behind the scenes, and much more than is known,” the ambassador noted. “Israel helps Ukraine in the defense and civilian spheres. Each request is considered in accordance with the defense export policy to Ukraine. We will not dwell on this in detail for reasons of national security and foreign policy,” the Israeli Ministry of Defense, in turn, told the Israeli media. It should also be taken into account that Israel’s refusal to supply the Kyiv regime with offensive weapons and air defense systems does not stem from the partnership nature of its relations with Moscow, but only because of threats to the Jewish state’s own security. Thus, Tel Aviv fears that if Israel begins supplying arms to Kyiv, then Moscow will no longer be bound by informal agreements and will be able to increase its military exports to the Middle East. This means that Russian weapons may end up in countries and organizations hostile to Israel. Let us recall that the Russian military-industrial complex is already suffering losses due to such a strategy. In particular, Qatar purchased Chinese VR-12A operational-tactical missiles, since Russia decided not to supply its Iskander missiles to the Middle East, given Israeli concerns. Bombing of Syria The ongoing bombing of Syria by the Israeli Air Force against the backdrop of increasing Israeli support for Kyiv also could not remain without a reaction from the Russian side. In January 2022, military pilots from Russia and Syria conducted the first joint air patrol over Syrian territory. It is significant that the Golan Heights area adjacent to Israel also became a zone for joint exercises. In early June, similar joint air patrols were carried out again. The addressee of this message, of course, is not directly named. However, it is obvious that it is sent to Israel as another warning: Israeli attacks on Syrian targets may also meet with a military reaction from the Russian group in the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR). However, during the NWO period, Israel continued its aggressive actions against Syria. The intensity of IDF attacks has especially increased. At the same time, as reported by Bloomberg, Israel has stopped regularly notifying Russia of attacks on Syrian territory. In this regard, the Russian Aerospace Forces were forced to once again begin patrolling the demarcation line between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights. “As part of monitoring the situation, the Russian Aerospace Forces have organized air patrols along the border of the separation zone between the Israeli Armed Forces and the Syrian Armed Forces,” Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit informed the deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties (CPVS) on January 18. In the end, Russia owes Israel nothing, but rather the opposite. It was Russia that did everything to avoid turning the areas adjacent to Israel under the control of the Syrian Arab Republic into a springboard for attacks on the Jewish state by pro-Iranian groups. Of course, the presence of pro-Iranian forces in southwest Syria is making itself felt. But such a presence is a tenth of what the IRGC and Hezbollah planned to deploy there. Russia prevented this by creating, in essence, a buffer zone there, where it is not so easy for pro-Iranian groups to gain a foothold due to the presence of armed units of the reconciled opposition there. It is clear that Russia also did this not because of sympathy for Israel, but because of the risks posed by the spread of the confrontation between Israel and the pro-Iranian “Axis of Resistance” to Syrian territory. Russia has already suffered losses from this when a Russian Il-20 was unintentionally shot down in 2018 while repelling Israeli air raids. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 This opinion was expressed by the chairman of the Yesh Atid party and leader of the opposition in the Knesset, Yair Lapid Known locally as "Tommy's Boy". While his official ideology is libertarian. His entire political career consists of being anti-Bibi (the man who turned Israel from socialist country into market economy). |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-02-02 02:28 |