Is Ukraine fading into the background?
ISW: Russia will take advantage of the situation in Israel
October 8, 2023, 12:42 p.m
US experts assume that Moscow could use the situation in Israel for its own war of aggression. According to commentators, the new conflict could divert attention from Ukraine. Russian politicians also have another hope.
From the perspective of US experts, Russia will also exploit the attacks by the Islamist Hamas against Israel for its war against Ukraine. In an information campaign, the Kremlin is accusing the West of neglecting the conflicts in the Middle East in favor of supporting Ukraine, the Institute for War Studies (ISW) in Washington wrote in an analysis. The experts pointed out, for example, that the Russian Foreign Ministry had accused the West of recently blocking the efforts of the Middle East Quartet, which includes Russia, the USA, the EU and the United Nations.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia also has contacts with the Islamist Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip and is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA, the EU and Israel. For example, the Kremlin’s Middle East representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, held talks with Hamas representatives several times this year – on the phone and in personal meetings. According to the ministry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again pointed out Moscow’s initiative for a two-state solution on Saturday.
Medvedev: “Idiots” interfered
Former Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev, who is deputy head of the Russian National Security Council, told the Telegram news channel that the violence between Hamas and Israel was to be expected. “Washington and its allies should have dealt with this,” Medvedev wrote. The USA is a key player in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Instead of working on an Israeli-Palestinian solution, these “idiots” interfered in Russia’s affairs, Medvedev said.
With their support for Ukraine, they had turned two peoples who were close to each other against each other. Russia started the war against Ukraine in February 2022. Russian commentators assumed that Hamas’ war against Israel would divert attention from Ukraine because the West now wanted to put out the “eternal fire” in the Middle East.
Russian politicians expressed hope that IT specialists and other experts who fled to Israel because of Moscow’s war against Ukraine could flee the new violence there and return to their homeland. Israel is one of the most popular emigration destinations for Russians with Jewish roots, who can obtain citizenship there comparatively easily.