Horn
13th October 2015, 10:58 AM
http://www.jta.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Bibi-Putin.jpg
As a defiant Russia again flexes military muscles in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, Cold War analogies are, perhaps, unavoidable.
The deployment last month of Russian warplanes in Syria laid bare Moscow’s readiness to use force to punish leaders who would challenge its authority — as in Ukraine, from which it annexed Crimea in March 2014 — and to defend its strategic allies, like Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad.
During the Cold War, Kremlin intervention generally meant bad news for Jews, who were second-class citizens, of sorts, in the Soviet Union — and for Israel, which the USSR regarded as an extension of its American rival. But observers of Russia’s current bid for greater influence in the Middle East say it may be a boon for Israel, which has strived in recent years to stay on the good side of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The main risk for Israel is not Assad but chaos” amid Syria’s bloody civil war of the past four-plus years, Ksenia Svetlova, a Moscow-born Israeli Labor party lawmaker, told JTA. “If the Russian deployment prevents it, then it can be a positive development.”
As Russia began beefing up its presence (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34502286) in Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled (http://www.jta.org/2015/09/16/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/netanyahu-to-visit-russia-over-putins-syria-support)last month to Moscow in an effort to avoid Russian-Israeli military entanglements in or over Syria, where Israel routinely retaliates for cross-border rocket attacks or goes on the offensive to eliminate certain types of weaponry. (“We are neither for nor against Assad,” The Economistquoted (http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21669563-though-opposite-sides-syrian-conflict-binyamin-netanyahu-and-vladimir-putin-agree)Netanyahu as saying during the Sept. 21 meeting.)
Netanyahu reportedly was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, in which he discussed with Putin ways to avoid clashes with Russian troops during its retaliatory missions in Syria. Further high-level talks on Syria are scheduled to begin between Israel and Russia later this month, Israel’s Army Radio reported last week.
http://www.jta.org/2015/10/12/news-opinion/world/in-putins-policing-of-middle-east-some-see-a-boon-for-israel
As a defiant Russia again flexes military muscles in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, Cold War analogies are, perhaps, unavoidable.
The deployment last month of Russian warplanes in Syria laid bare Moscow’s readiness to use force to punish leaders who would challenge its authority — as in Ukraine, from which it annexed Crimea in March 2014 — and to defend its strategic allies, like Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad.
During the Cold War, Kremlin intervention generally meant bad news for Jews, who were second-class citizens, of sorts, in the Soviet Union — and for Israel, which the USSR regarded as an extension of its American rival. But observers of Russia’s current bid for greater influence in the Middle East say it may be a boon for Israel, which has strived in recent years to stay on the good side of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The main risk for Israel is not Assad but chaos” amid Syria’s bloody civil war of the past four-plus years, Ksenia Svetlova, a Moscow-born Israeli Labor party lawmaker, told JTA. “If the Russian deployment prevents it, then it can be a positive development.”
As Russia began beefing up its presence (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34502286) in Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled (http://www.jta.org/2015/09/16/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/netanyahu-to-visit-russia-over-putins-syria-support)last month to Moscow in an effort to avoid Russian-Israeli military entanglements in or over Syria, where Israel routinely retaliates for cross-border rocket attacks or goes on the offensive to eliminate certain types of weaponry. (“We are neither for nor against Assad,” The Economistquoted (http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21669563-though-opposite-sides-syrian-conflict-binyamin-netanyahu-and-vladimir-putin-agree)Netanyahu as saying during the Sept. 21 meeting.)
Netanyahu reportedly was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, in which he discussed with Putin ways to avoid clashes with Russian troops during its retaliatory missions in Syria. Further high-level talks on Syria are scheduled to begin between Israel and Russia later this month, Israel’s Army Radio reported last week.
http://www.jta.org/2015/10/12/news-opinion/world/in-putins-policing-of-middle-east-some-see-a-boon-for-israel