Israel in the trap of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

With the United States as a historic ally, Russian forces based in neighboring Syria and close to a million of its citizens from the former Soviet Union, Israel is trying to strike a difficult balance after invading Ukraine.

In Bat Yam, a city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv where thousands of Russian and Ukrainian Jews have settled in recent years, the bombing of Vladimir Putin’s army against Ukraine caused a stir on Thursday.

Natalia Kogan, 57, a saleswoman in a supermarket where beers made in Ukraine are found alongside those from Russia, and whose parents live in Ukraine, says she was “shocked” by the announcement of the attacks.

“I told my mother and father not to stress. I think it will not last more than a day or two, that (the war) will only be between the military, “says this blond-haired woman, who claims to feel “safer” in Israel, a country that nevertheless lived last year a war with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza.

Max, 33, a native of Russia who immigrated to Israel at the age of eight, says he “understands” that in the eyes of President Putin Ukraine’s possible accession to NATO “threatens Russia.”

“But this does not justify an invasion and what is most frustrating is that normal people suffer,” he adds, assuring that at first he does not feel tensions between Ukrainians and Russians in Israel.

What should the Jewish state do in this situation? “Israel only has to evacuate (the Jews) and provide medical aid. It is not necessary to help Russia, but rather to help the Ukrainian citizens and perhaps also talk to Putin if he does not calm down”, continues this young father of a family.

“Ancient Ties”

The head of Israeli diplomacy Yair Lapid on Thursday condemned the Russian invasion which constitutes, in his opinion, a “serious violation of the world order”. But he highlighted the “old, deep and close ties” that bind the Hebrew state to Russia and Ukraine, the main hotbeds of aliyah, Jewish immigration to Israel.

In recent days, Israel had asked its citizens to leave the country. On Thursday, after the first Russian attacks, flights to Tel Aviv were cancelled, forcing thousands of Israelis currently in Ukraine – which is otherwise a major Orthodox Jewish pilgrimage site – to travel to neighboring European countries and then fly to Israel.

“We are ready to receive thousands of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine,” declared Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata on Thursday, whose government did not announce sanctions against Russia, contrary to what the United States did, the main ally of the Hebrew state.

“Although Israel has to condemn the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty (by Russia), we cannot ignore that the Russian army is on our northern border (in Syria). It is a matter of national security,” explains Michael Oren, a historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States.

Since 2015, Russia has been deployed militarily in Syria, a neighboring country of Israel, to support the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Delicate balance”

This intervention, with bloody bombardments and massive destruction, changed the course of the war in Syria and allowed the regime in Damascus to win decisive victories and recover territories it had lost to the rebels and jihadists.

We must also not forget the important Jewish community in Russia, adds Oren. “We cannot go back to a situation where Israel would be deprived of contact with them,” he estimates.

Israel’s relations with the former Soviet Union were “very bad” but “improved” with Putin’s Russia, stresses Itamar Rabinovich, a former senior Israeli diplomat who closely follows his country’s policy towards Syria, where a pro-Iran group operates. , enemy number one of the Hebrew State.

In recent years, the Israeli army has multiplied air strikes against these groups without Russia, at least officially, having prevented it.

“Russia allows Israel to carry out its war against Iran without however preventing Iran from continuing its objectives in Syria,” Rabinovich says. “We do not want to jeopardize this delicate balance in our relationship with Russia,” he concludes.