Israel condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also offered humanitarian aid to Ukraine but stopped short of promising military assistance to the leaders in Kyiv. Without naming the countries, he urged President Vladimir Putin to back down.
“Israel is a country that has experienced wars, and war is not the way to resolve conflicts. The first hours and days of any war are also the last time you can still stop and return to the negotiating table, mediated by world powers, to settle disputes peacefully,” Lapid said.
“Israel has deep, long-lasting, and good relations with Russia and with Ukraine. There are tens of thousands of Israelis in both countries and there are hundreds of thousands of Jews in both countries. Maintaining their security and safety is at the top of our considerations,” the foreign minister said.
Some analysts say Putin’s goal goes far beyond that country.
“Putin of course, wants to destroy Ukrainian sovereignty, but this is not really about Ukraine,” said Anna Borshchevskaya, from the Washington Institute.
“This is about Putin, trying to play out the end of the Cold War with an alternate ending. It’s about expelling the United States from Europe and changing the security architecture in Europe. It will have direct implications on the Middle East, but also globally,” Borshchevskaya told CBN News.
For Israel, the situation is like walking a tightrope between supporting democratic ally Ukraine and depending on Russia to ensure it can carry out airstrikes against Iranian proxies and installations inside Syria.
“The fact that Russia had a strategic success in Syria and was able to establish a permanent military presence, puts it in a better position to pressure Ukraine,” said Borshchevskaya. “I think you’re going to see more Russian military activity in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean.”
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“Russia is in Syria since September 2015, when the Russian air force first deployed there and the Russians have basically saved the regime of Bashar Assad, and they are therefore in essence the de facto authority,” said Middle East expert Jonathan Spyer.
Spyer says that is like Israel having a border with Russia itself.
“Israel is engaged in an ongoing air campaign to try to roll back Iranian efforts at consolidation and entrenchment in Syria, nothing can happen over the skies of Syria without tacit Russian permission, which means that the Israeli-Russian relationship is of paramount diplomatic importance to Israel right now,” Spyer told CBN News.
At the same time Israel is a key ally of the US.
“And Israel has its own values also. And absolutely is close to Ukraine also, which has of course, a Jewish, president. So it means that Israel is kind of torn between two imperatives right now,” Spyer said.
For now, Putin has his hands full with Ukraine. But if he achieves his goals there, Israel could find itself in an even more difficult security situation facing both Russia and Iran in Syria.
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