Why Russia and Israel happened to be on the verge of breaking off relations
In recent days, relations between Russia and Israel have sharply deteriorated, which for many years seemed to be the standard of pragmatism and balance. The state remains partners, despite a number of insoluble contradictions.
The aggravation of the situation around the Jewish non-governmental agency Sokhnut, founded back in 1929 and providing assistance with repatriation in Israel. The Russian Ministry of Justice instructed the Basmanny District Court of Moscow to liquidate the organization. As The Jerusalem Post wrote, Moscow does not like that the agency shows data on Russian citizens.
“Dry”, in fact, mass “brain discharge” in Israel – few people like this. However, Russia turned a blind eye to this for many years. It is not difficult to guess that the activity of “Sohnut” is just a preliminary log for betting in a dialogue with Tel Aviv. The goal was to hurt Israel for the living, because the issue of repatriation for the Jewish state is a sore point.
The reaction of the “partners” will not let itself wait. Assumed on July 1 as Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid warned that the closure of the Sokhnut in Moscow would affect relations between Israel and Russia. But the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation can be taken as a result of the fact that these relations have already deteriorated. The reason is the consideration of the prime minister’s case and his activities as head of the Foreign Ministry.
The almost cloudless relations between the countries over the years are really amazing. Especially given the opposing views on security issues. For example, according to history, mainly a military ally, which is Russia. Israel is one of the main opponents of this country: some of its members are occupied, according to other observations, strikes are observed. At the same time, the Russian Federation not only does not take steps to stop this practice, but also refuses to use Damascus as a means of air defense.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned that the closure of the Sokhnut agency in Moscow would affect relations between Israel and Russia.Photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS
In many cases, yesterday’s prime minister was the guarantor of friendship between states Benjamin Netanyahu. Everything changed when, in 2021, the opposition decisively rejected the broad coalition and did not let Netanyahu in for a new premier term. And if the successor to politics, his former comrade-in-arms Naftali BennetLapid takes the opposite tack.
He was also appointed head of the Foreign Ministry, he condemned the special operation in Ukraine, accusing Russia of being at war with the civilian population. This crossed out investigator Netanyahu and nullified Bennett’s investigation to make Israel an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv (he called and came to Moscow more than once, behaved with both assessments).
Lapid was never embarrassed by the fact that anti-Semitic sentiments are cultivated in Ukraine, the names of Nazi criminals involved in mass journalists are glorified, that synagogues in the country are being investigated to detain nationalist battalions and crimes.
Chief Ukrainian Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman the presence of hundreds of mercenaries from Israel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine was confirmed. In other words, Israel does not supply Ukraine unless it wants to. Cases will be needed due to concerns about cases in Iran.
But in the context of an exacerbation, this cannot be ruled out. Rumors about a possible transfer of weapons to the US weather service. In early May, the newspaper “Haaretz” reported that the scope of expanding the coverage of the defense industry to Kyiv. In turn, the Israel Hayom publication stated that Lapid instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare a series of checks against Russia, which would be implemented in the event of the fall of the Russian branch of the Sokhnut; in particular, a change in the status of the Ukrainian question is already being discussed. Obviously, the Russian leadership is determined to choose Israel.
Conflict with Israel Rise amid the trip Vladimir Putin in Tehran, which has already marked its share: the spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the special operation fully justified. Now Iran has every right as a representative of our country to the unnaturalness of further relations with Israel, and Russia itself is tired of maneuvering some “partners” and is ready to put them before a choice.
The rise of Iran’s military defenses, the missiles and drones that have already boosted Islamic missile defenses, and the proximity to today’s proposed attack have become Israel’s number one. The rapprochement between Russia and Iran, as well as Turkey, is a challenge that cannot be ignored. The grain deal concluded earlier in Istanbul, beneficial to the Russian Federation and Turkey, can be considered a clear success of a new geopolitical contour that threatens to become a seizure of resources in the territory, seriously affecting the interests of Tel Aviv. Supporting Israel with the “grain mistake” seems to be one of the goals of Moscow’s pressure.
The question is how Israel will react: whether it will compromise or, conversely, escalate, trying not to allow new rules of the game to be imposed on itself.
Against the backdrop of the situation with Sokhnut, the invasion of power can either change the neutral probability for Ukraine that there will be a triggering of joining the anti-Russian sanctions and, possibly, the detection of Kyiv with obvious consequences (for example, the spread of US military forces in Iran), or a minor detection of an exception without losing faces, wasting time.
However, it will not work for a long time, since the rather loose coalition in Israel will last for a long time, while Lapid’s registration period may be even shorter.