Russia-Israel Ties in Spotlight In Wake of Syria Deal
The Helsinki conference on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East will be a window into the state of Russia-Israel relations.
Among the confidential documents declassified by the Israeli State Archives on the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War is a fascinating letter sent in September 1972 by Prime Minister Golda Meir to German Chancellor Willy Brandt. In the document, which for some reason has not attracted much attention, Meir refers to the decision by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in July of that year to expel the 20,000 Soviet advisers from his country. Meir wrote that the Russian presence in Egypt was to prepare the army for a war with Israel, but that Sadat may have thought it would also force the United States to cooperate with the Soviets in pressing Israel to agree to a diplomatic solution on “Egypt’s terms” (i.e., withdrawal from territory Israel captured in the 1967 war). Meir assumed that with the departure of the Soviet advisers, “the grounds for the realization of these options have greatly diminished.”
The ouster of the Russian bear lifted the threat of war and the danger of peace from Meir’s shoulders. Today, as well, the average Israeli and the common politician rank Russia at the bottom of Israel’s fan club, between the European Union and the Arab states.
Anyone who protects Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, sells missiles to Iran and provides asylum to a fellow who angers Uncle Sam cannot be considered a “true friend.” For years, Israel has been addicted to American weapons and to its veto power and also to the political game in which the Israeli tail wags the American dog. But after many years of US dominance as the only world power, Israel will have to get used to the new-old situation created by the Arab Spring — a reality in which there is more than one sheriff running the town.
The appointment of Avidgor Liberman, a native of Moldova, as foreign minister [2009–2013] in the second Benjamin Netanyahu government stirred hope that Israel might be able to draw closer to Moscow and perhaps even reduce its dependence on the United States under the leadership of President Barack Obama. The Netanyahu government decided to invest special effort in enlisting Moscow’s help in attempts to block Iran’s nuclear program and to thus maintain Israel’s hegemony in this area (according to foreign sources).
