On January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin will come to Israel, where he will take part in the Fifth World Holocaust Forum. This is the first visit of the Russian president to the Jewish state in the last 8 years.

First of the leaders

This year, commemorative events of the World Holocaust Forum will be dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army. The forum, which will be held in the Yad Vashem memorial complex, will be attended by about 40 world leaders.

As Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said on the eve, "Vladimir Putin will be the first to speak before the audience as the main foreign guest." He will be given the floor immediately after the welcoming remarks by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the European Jewish Congress Vyacheslav Kantor.

“The president will talk a lot about the inadmissibility of attempts to falsify history and revise the outcome of World War II,” said Ushakov.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that not all state leaders who came to Israel will give the right to appeal to those gathered.

According to Yuri Ushakov, in addition to President Putin, the Israeli side was allowed to address guests to French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, US Vice President Mike Pence and Prince of Wales Charles.

As for the Russian president’s communication with representatives of other states, according to Ushakov, the Kremlin received a request from Kiev to arrange a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who will also be present at the forum. Assistant Putin did not rule out contacts between the Russian leader and US Vice President Pence.

However, given the tight schedule of the visit - due to a change of government in Russia, Putin will stay in Israel only one day - any meetings with representatives of foreign states will be short-lived and will be held on its feet, said Ushakov.

  • Visitors at the Yad Vashem Memorial Complex
  • AFP
  • © Ludovic MARIN

General story

It is worth noting that on the eve of the forum in Israel, the leadership of Russia and Poland entered into a polemic on the issue of anti-Semitism. At the end of December 2019, the Russian president called the Polish ambassador in Berlin in the 1930s, Jozef Lipsky, an “anti-Semitic pig” for offering to erect a monument to Hitler for the idea of ​​expelling Jews from Europe to Africa.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin criticized European countries, including Poland, for trying to rewrite history. In particular, he drew attention to the resolution of the European Parliament, in which they tried to shift to the USSR part of the responsibility for the outbreak of World War II.

By the way, Polish President Andrzej Duda, who entered into an absentee dispute with the Russian leadership over the interpretation of history, did not receive the right to speak at the Israeli forum. However, the visit of the Polish president to Israel is now in question.

As an expert of the Institute of the Middle East Sergey Balmasov noted in an interview with RT, Israel could become an ally of Russia in the fight against distortion of the history of the Second World War.

“Israel has a very serious percentage of Russian-speaking Jews. A significant part of people sympathize with us. In most cases, these people recognize the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany. This is positive for the current situation. This is the case when history is important for building relations between countries. In Israel, many are grateful to our veterans for saving the prisoners of Nazi concentration camps at one time, said RT Balmasov. - As for Poland, the Israeli leadership has its own accounts with Warsaw. We all know very well how the same Polish Jews ended up in concentration camps. ”

During a visit to Jerusalem, the Russian leader will also take part in the unveiling of the Candle of Remembrance monument in honor of the defenders and residents of besieged Leningrad. The president also intends to present the Order of Courage to relatives of the hero of the uprising in the Sobibor camp of Leon Felgendler.

As Director General of the Historical Memory Foundation Alexander Dyukov noted in an interview with RT, “preserving the memory of the Holocaust and World War II is a common task for Russia and Israel.”

  • Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu take part in the Immortal Regiment
  • RIA News
  • © Alexey Druzhinin

“The president is coming to Israel and will participate in two public events. Firstly, in the international forum for the memory of victims of the Holocaust. Secondly, in the opening of the monument to the victims of the siege of Leningrad in Jerusalem. These two events are dedicated to events that are very close in their meaning. This is the memory of the victims of two manifestations of hate Nazi politics - the war of extermination, the politics of genocide. The extermination of Jews by the Nazis and the blockade of Leningrad are Nazi punitive operations in the occupied territories, the victims of which were millions of people. Our countries, Russia and Israel, without a doubt, are united in the fight against this ideology and its modern heirs, ”said Dyukov.

According to the historian, it is indicative of the fact that the leaders of several East European countries, including Lithuania and Estonia, refused to attend the forum in Israel.

“It is very significant that it is in these countries that an attempt is made to revise the Holocaust, as, for example, in Lithuania. It is in these countries that the question of restitution of Jewish property is not being resolved. And, of course, it is in these countries that baseless accusations are brought against Russia and the Soviet Union in unleashing the Second World War, ”said Dyukov.

And with Netanyahu and with Abbas

During his stay in Israel, Vladimir Putin will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. According to Sergei Balmasov, at a meeting with the Israeli leadership, the Russian leader will have the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues: from regional problems of the Middle East to bilateral cooperation.

“Do not forget that, despite its small territory, it is one of the most developed industrial countries in the world. Something will probably be signed. Cultural cooperation is very important. Also, the interaction of special services is important for relations between our countries, ”the expert says.

According to Yuri Ushakov, both the economy and world politics will be discussed at a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“Special attention will traditionally be paid to the situation in the Middle East, including, of course, the situation of tension around Iran, the situation in Syria, as well as the state of affairs in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement,” said the assistant to the Russian president.

He also said that Putin and Netanyahu will meet together with the mother of a seven-and-a-half-year-old prisoner in Russia for smuggling drugs by Israeli citizen Naama Issahar. Israel has long sought its liberation.

In addition, Russian and Israeli leaders will meet with the Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Theophilus III. Probably, the issue of the return of Russia to the Alexander Compound, part of the territory of the Old City in Jerusalem, belonging to the Russian Empire, will be discussed.

According to Yuri Ushakov, in terms of the transfer to the Russian side of the Alexander Compound, "a positive trend is evident."

In addition to Jerusalem, Vladimir Putin will also visit Bethlehem, where he will talk with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. As noted by Yuri Ushakov, during the meeting a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be discussed.

  • Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Abbas
  • RIA News
  • © Alexey Druzhinin

Putin’s aide emphasized that Moscow is "supporting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, including their inalienable right to their own independent state."

MGIMO Senior Researcher Yuri Zinin noted in an interview with RT that the situation in the region is complicated, but Russia is a unique country whose voice is important for both Palestinians and Israelis.

“Russia manages to maintain contacts with various parties to this conflict, both from the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Perhaps, such an example is no longer among other countries, ”summed up Zinin.