Is Moscow on the verge of breaking with Tel Aviv?

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) (Getty)

What was reported by Israeli media regarding the summoning of the Russian ambassador to Tel Aviv, Anatoly Viktorov, to “reprimand” him against the backdrop of “statements against the Hebrew state” made by Russian officials, and even if no comment was issued by the foreign ministries of both countries, it does not seem surprising or unlikely news to the public. The tension that relations have reached has never been witnessed before, even if this news is not true or inaccurate.

It is important, in this context, to return to an incident that confirms this deterioration in relations after the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Moscow, Simon Halperin, on February 5, against the backdrop of statements she made to the Kommersant newspaper, in which the Foreign Ministry said she did not respect Russia's efforts to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Moreover, the State Department did not pass on the statement that Halperin said regarding Russia “downplaying the importance” of the Holocaust, and that the world has never before in history known such a genocidal and systematic genocide on nationalist grounds, and the Jewish people are the only ones exposed to it,” and found in this “ The fall is an opportunity to remind the Israeli ambassador that “the statement that the Holocaust was the annihilation of the Jewish people alone contradicts the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in this regard.”

Russian-Israeli tension began to take a new turn after Tel Aviv tried more than once to blame Moscow for not taking a sharp stance on the October 7 events in the Gaza Strip.

The reality of the situation says: Moscow condemned Hamas' attack on Israel. But what we saw - Israeli practices in the Gaza Strip that are beyond the imagination of the human mind - “expunges” this attack from the balance of the approach between action and reaction.

When Israel kills tens of thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip, most of whom are children and women, with indiscriminate and barbaric raids and bombing, what is the reaction that Tel Aviv expects from Russia in the face of a horrific scene carried out by Israeli forces hour after hour and without stopping? Russia's demand, through the UN Security Council, for an urgent ceasefire and all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, does not contain anything hostile to Israel or supportive of the Palestinians.

This position stems from purely humanitarian considerations; Because the horror of the massacres carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip and against its residents must stop immediately.

Of course, in parallel, it cannot be ignored that Russian-Israeli relations had seriously deteriorated before that, not against the backdrop of the events of October 7, but rather due to other considerations.

The rapprochement and cooperation that have begun to emerge more clearly between Russia and Iran in light of the events in Ukraine, in turn, has caused concern among the Israelis. But here it must be said as well; Israel did everything it could to strain relations with Moscow, and not only with regard to the position on the conflict with Ukraine. The continuous strikes launched by Israeli aircraft on targets inside Syria directly harm Russia's "prestige" in the Middle East, despite the importance of always remembering that Russia is present in Syria under the slogan of fighting terrorism.

Here we must remind Israel that Russia does not consider Hamas a terrorist movement, and the Israeli government must start from this part when evaluating our positions towards this movement.

These Israeli strikes greatly harm Moscow's reputation in the region, which we see frequently in Arab media comments. Does this fall within the Israeli goals of these attacks?

There is another issue related to the fact that when the special military operation began in Ukraine, we did not see from the Israelis any mediation efforts or any attempts to curb the reckless American rush towards confrontation, although Tel Aviv could have played the role of a bridge or mediator with the Americans, but things turned out to be It wasn't like this.

Quite the contrary, it became clear that Israel gradually sided with the American position and blended with Kiev's position, despite Moscow's assertion that one of the goals of the military operation in Ukraine was to eliminate Nazi tendencies within this country.

I do not see the need here to explain the relationship that prevailed between the Nazi rule in Germany and the Jewish people there, in order to understand the moral dimensions, at a minimum, of Israeli behavior.

One of the striking things that must be pointed out in this context is that it turns out that our political, military, and even economic ally in approaching the war with Ukraine is Iran. Cooperation between Moscow and Tehran continues at a rapid pace, and in return, Israel expresses its dissatisfaction, and summons our ambassador from time to time to express “discomfort.” The matter did not stop there. Rather, Israel expressed its dissatisfaction with our reception of the Hamas leadership several times in Moscow, and Tel Aviv came out with conclusions and statements that suggested that we were meeting with terrorists, and this is certainly not true.

Here we must remind Israel that Russia does not consider Hamas a terrorist movement, and the Israeli government must start from this part when evaluating our positions towards this movement. Israel can say what it wants, but this is our position on Hamas: we do not consider it a terrorist movement, and we have ongoing contacts with it, and these contacts included - among other things - discussing the release of those captured by the movement on October 7.

Instead of Tel Aviv highly evaluating Russia's role in this regard, we began to hear criticism from the Israelis and they returned once again to the process of recalling our ambassador to them.

Let us return briefly to the UN Security Council, when Russia tried in various ways to stop the bloody war in the Gaza Strip. The matter did not stop there, as Tel Aviv indulged in indiscriminate bombing and the use of starvation as a means of pressure on the Palestinians. We are not blind, and we see these practices daily and clearly on the part of the Israelis.

When Russia presents a draft resolution for an urgent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Israel becomes upset with us. Why are you upset? Did Tel Aviv take constructive steps before October 7 to settle the conflict with the Palestinians? Did you move towards the option of a two-state solution and acceptance of an independent Palestinian state?

No, they did not do that. Rather, they disrupted all forms of political solutions, and even expanded the settlement areas and built new Jewish settlements.

Here there is nothing new in the Russian position, nothing new at all. Russia's approach is well-known and has not changed. Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on relevant international resolutions, and the solution is clear.

Prospects for the development of relations

I go back and say that the scene is very strange. There are Israeli interests and Israeli positions, and everything else or position has no value to them.

For them, Russian interests or concerns are irrelevant. As for us, we handed over, through our special forces in Syria, the remains of the Israeli pilot Zachary Baumel, who had been missing since 1982, on the eve of elections that were very important for Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

That is, we practically gave him a free gift of great value at the height of his election campaign. On the other hand, they responded to us by targeting the Syrian regions. Is that reasonable?

On this basis, talking about the prospects for relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv requires re-adjusting them on the basis of mutual respect.

It is self-evident that Tel Aviv realizes that we do not necessarily agree with it in everything and at all times, especially on fundamental issues. But mutual respect and getting rid of the unimaginable complex of selfishness from which Israel suffers are two necessary conditions for paving the way towards settling relations.

If we see that Israel responds to these demands, we will take a step towards it. Especially since it is important for us to continue communicating with her in more than one file.

But if their positions remain as they are now, we will not be willing to neglect our interests, and we will choose the option of clinging more closely to them, and at the same time, with greater indifference towards Israeli interests.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.