Israel and Russia are unlikely allies, but both feel united for being isolated and ideologically connected

 

Israel and Russia are two totally contrasting nations. Russia is a dictatorship with Vladimir Putin in charge of Russia from 2000 onward. Israel is illiberal democracy, which has a rightfully elected government, but conservative and right-wing, a legacy of Arab-Jewish hostilities dated back to 1948. Moreover, Israel is an ally of the United States and a major partner of NATO; Russia is neither. Under that circumstance, Russia and Israel have to be enemies. But it doesn't go that way. Instead, Israel and Russia enjoy some of their best in relations, in particular since the fall of Soviet Union.

But this may not be examined without understanding how. Yet when I read an article an Israeli Institute, say, Moshe Dayan Center, I was aware of the resentful attitude against European Union among Israeli population. It still prevails to even today, maybe spearheaded than their once resentment against Russia.

So the question comes through, why? I think it needs to be addressed.

A different antisemitism in Russia

Let's say this, there is a very long, deep-rooted antisemitism in Europe. Russia was indifferent. Antisemitism in Europe came since the Roman Empire, when Rome regarded the Jews as rebellious subjects, erased the Kingdom of Israel and renamed Palestina - the origin of the name Palestine. The Jews had to move elsewhere, as the Romans could not tolerate any traces of Jewish existence in the Holy Land. The Jews however maintained the faith that one day, they would return to the Holy Land, and remade Jerusalem as it capital of the old Kingdom.

When the Roman Empire collapsed, Europe accepted Christianity. However, a few hundred years before its demise, the Romans embraced Christianity, patronised Jesus (a Jewish preacher), but blamed the Jews for killing Jesus, ignoring that the Romans executed him and not the Jews. This was followed by generations across the continent, resulting in the brutal expulsion of Jews by the Spanish conquistadors in the late 15th century; or a number of mass murders against Jews spanned from 10th to 14th century in England, France, Italy and Germany. During the Black Death in 14th century, Jews were ascribed for carrying the disease and were also massacred. Meanwhile, Russian contact with Jews didn't come until 17th century, when Poland, one of Europe's most tolerant countries for Jews, conflicted with Russia.

An American cartoon depicting pogroms against Jews in Russia, 20th century. The U.S. was an ally of Russian Empire then.

Russian experience with Jews only grew in 18th century. Sadly, Russian leaders had learnt the Jews from the Spaniards back in 15th century, the Russian nobility and Tsarist family believed the Jews on what the Spanish accords recorded: a brutal, exploitive, thieving and uncivilised people. Nonetheless, antisemitism did not take shape in Russia before 19th century, but the perception of Jews signalled the future of the Jews in Russia would not be so different from the Jews in the other European nations.

Stating the same is like that. But I also noticed a lot of differences that made Russian antisemitism unique to Europe. In other European entities during the 19th century like Greece, Britain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, Netherlands and Spain, the hatred against Jews often followed with forced assimilation, repression and denial of Jewish heritage, until they could no longer embrace Jewish identity; most had state-backing. In Russia, antisemitism was also sponsored by the state, but unlike the rest of the continent, Russian anti-Jewish sentiment rooted in forcing these people to go back to the promised land of the Jews. Pogroms were frequent and deadly, but rather than eradicating the Jewishness of the people, the Jews were reinvigorated to realise where was the true homeland for them. So unlike Jews in the rest of Europe that suffered trauma and rejection, Jews in Russian Empire found themselves the need to revive Israel. It was not a surprise that a lot of the first leaders of the Zionist movement came from Russia. Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion were examples.

And this explained why, when Russia was indifferent to most of Europe in term of xenophobia against Jews, it was ironically, the first European country that willing to open its arms to the Jews, the communist movement that later established the Soviet Union were filled with a number of Jewish-born figures like Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev.

The attitude retrogressed when Joseph Stalin rose to power, as Stalin were fearful of Jewish rebellion. Though Stalin did create a Jewish autonomous oblast in the Far East bordering China, Stalin imposed Yiddish and not Hebrew as the main language. Jewish intellectuals in the Soviet regime were persecuted and purged from the government. At the same time, however, Jews in USSR were not the only ones to suffer. Take France, Nazi Germany, Britain, these attitudes toward Jews made it unlikely to be seen heavenly.

It was only reversed when World War II broke out with subsequent Holocaust by the Nazis and British Empire blocking Jewish refugees from entering Palestine, then under British rule. The Soviets seized the chance, forming the anti-Nazi Jewish committee. A lot of Jews did fight under the Soviets, making the Soviet Jews the largest Jewish force in Europe. No doubt about that, Stalin paid a gesture by recognising Israel, the first in the world to do so in 1947, even when Stalin's anti-Jewish repression continued unabated until 1970s.

From foe to friend

Strangely enough, this may also found the basis of anti-Russian sentiment in the Arab World, in particular, the Palestinians. These Arabs still carry out a bitterness toward Russia, as many Arabs see the modern Jews as "colonisers from Europe". The Arabs still remembered clearly how Russia recognised Israel in 1947. Even when Israel and the Soviet Union later turned against each other after Israel aligned with the United States, the Soviet state remained blamed by many Arabs for supplying substandard weapons and rumours of secret Israeli-Soviet pact. The Arabs were among one of the most active jihadist groups fighting in Afghanistan on the mujahideen side against the Soviets, which finally collapsed the Soviet Union. Yet the Arabs were unsatisfied, and they became a major militant group fighting in the two Chechen Wars in 1990s, especially the second.

By Gorbachev's era, however, Israel started normalising tie with the Soviet Union, and this was carried by the new Russian Federation. In turn, Israel developed a more sympathetic view of Russia, seeing how Russia was treated as a pariah even by Europe; Israel sensed the same thing for them, mostly from Muslim world. Israel did not acknowledge the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, due to the Islamist nature of Chechen people. It was well-founded at the second Chechen War due to an influx of jihadists from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria, with Israel secretly helped engineering and improving Russian military hardware. Israeli intelligence played a secret role in assisting the Russian Armed Forces to demolish the Chechen state. This, in turn, led to the blooming of Russian-Israeli relations. Adding with how Israel and Russia openly opposed the bombing of Serbia in 1999, it only went better. Antisemitism today in Russia remains, though, but not at the scale happening in the European Union.

But that wasn't the only. There is deep dissatisfaction among Israeli leadership toward the United States of America, assumably its strongest ally, because two political parties in the U.S. have different opinions, though agreeing to defend Israel. By 21st century, Israel has the most adverse relationship with the Democratic Party.

Israeli PM Netanyahu met then U.S. President Obama at the Oval Office in November 2015.

The deep dislike against Democratic Party came studied only in recent years, but Israel's negative feeling toward the Democrats had long entrenched. Back when the Soviet Union and Israel had hostile relations, Israel disliked the Democrats for being too grotesque to the USSR. Yet when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990s, the Democrats got the blame by Israel for not utilising this choice to make Russia a new ally. Israel has more than 25% of its population traced origin from Russia, and had President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, appreciated this opportunity, Russia would have been a more stable friend. It ultimately didn't, by kept getting along with the democratic champion yet incompetent Boris Yeltsin. The Democratic Party became a clear enemy of Russia. Yet the Democrats are also very close, radically closer to the European allies within NATO, and this also doesn't help Israel either, under the Democrats, America was seen coercing Israel to accept some of EU's demands. Israel knew very well how the experience with European Union members' antisemitism is like.

On the other hand, the Republican Party is seen to be closer in ideology to Israel. Republicans, since 1980s, have been strongly conservative. The party isn't actually very friendly to Russia, but the GOP appeared to become more and more pleasing to be on the side of Russia, especially to Putin. This is because, unlike the Democrats, the Republicans have become some kind of solidarity to the feeling of Russia, a bit because they were isolated and paranoid. President George W. Bush tried to correct the GOP, but once Bush Jr. left, the GOP leaned totally to ultra-conservatism. The GOP, since 2010s, has also wanted to distance itself from NATO, something that may look bad for Israel as a major non-NATO ally, but the reality is a long term gain for the Jewish state.

This was meaningful for both Israel and Russia. Jerusalem and Moscow poured supports for radical Republican members like Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, Brian Kemp, Mitch McConnell, Sheldon Adelson, etc. But the biggest triumph of Russo-Israeli cooperation in American politics is Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, with the Israeli Prime Minister being accused of assisting Putin to meddle in 2016 election. Trump, a businessman with no experience in politics, subsequently made America a global circus.

For Bibi and Putin, Trump was a true miracle. Trump was, still pro-Russian and pro-Israeli. The relationship between Israel and Russia remains imperfect, such as conflict over Syria, Ukraine and Palestine, yet it achieved a new height from 2017. Israeli nationals openly helped modernising the nascent gas-reliance Russian economy, diversifying Russian market to be less reliant on Europe and providing education to the growing IT industry in Russia. Israel also exerts significant influence in Russia, having the second-largest lobby compound in the world after the Jewish lobby compound in the U.S., with Israel being one of very rare close American ally that can speak clearly to Russia without problems. Netanyahu personally came paying tribute to World War II heroes in Russia at 2017. Israel refused to condemn Russia over its involvement in Donetsk and Luhansk conflict against Ukraine or the poisoning of the Skripal family in the United Kingdom, drawing widespread criticism among NATO states and Ukraine. Moreover, Israel, alongside two Gulf Arab states Saudi Arabia and the UAE, sent delegations in 2017 calling for Trump to suspend support for Ukraine and strike for a deal with Russia. The meeting in Helsinki in 2018, where Trump submitted to Putin in the talking, was an emotional shock for most EU and NATO allies, but not for Israel.

Simultaneously, Russia quietly acknowledged Israel's capital to be Jerusalem in 2017 when Trump announced recognition of the city. Russia also abstained from making comment about Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran. Moreover, Russia indirectly endorsed Netanyahu and Trump's efforts to make peace between Israel and various Arab nations. Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan joined Egypt and Jordan in recognising Israel. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Tunisia and Qatar maintain unofficial links, thought to be against the expansionist ambitions of Iran and Turkey. Well, Russia is an ally of Iran, to make it clear, but Russia is far from being a full-time friend since Moscow fears Tehran trying to mitigate Russian influence in Syria. So Russia, in a bid to weaken Iran, applauded vicariously peace treaties Israel signed with these four Arab states. Most European countries meanwhile reacted reluctantly agreeing with these peace efforts not because they like Israel or Trump, but rather because of emphasising relations with these Arab countries, all because of increasing closeness between the Arab nations to Russia nowadays. Then, Russia also openly backed Trump's effort to normalising relations between Kosovo and Israel, as well as allowing Serbia to establish an embassy in Jerusalem, the first country in Europe to do so. Serbia is Russia's closest ally.

The best example of increasing Israeli-Russian coordination is no better than the COVID-19 pandemic. As the United States under Trump mismanaged and subsequently making the country worst-hit, Russia, with assists from Israel, largely avoided a similar fate like most EU nations and the U.S., and even profoundly making the claim it was the first nation to produce a vaccine. This was done by Russian company Gamaleya, with technologies and bioscience researches provided from Israel.

Sputnik V vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 was a joint product between Russian and Israeli scientists.

A Trojan horse?

Israel's support for Trump and Russia did not go unnoticed, but Netanyahu miscalculated resentment against Trump among American public and other allies. Netanyahu's Israel successfully fed into the Israeli population a very conservative, ultra-Trumpist propaganda with a laissez-faire technique. Unlike Putin who knew that it would be impossible for Trump to win again except for feeding further misinformation, Israeli government actively tried to pressure its Jewish voters in America to keep voting Trump. Unfortunately, Israeli media doesn't show any news about how Trump Presidency exacerbated inequality, racial segregation and division, or even COVID-19 mishandling. Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election in a humiliating style, at the shock of Netanyahu's expectation.

Not surprising, Netanyahu lost over nearly a few hours before finally congratulated Biden, but not referring Biden as "President", showing a clear uneasiness. Putin took a longer time, six weeks before Biden inaugurated as President, to congratulate the American counterpart. By contrast, after Biden was declared winner, the whole EU, NATO nations and its allies in Asia sent messages cheering the 46th President. In the mind of Bibi, Trump is always the legitimate President, not Biden, and Bibi tried to couple this loss by looking back on opportunities to repair relations with the EU and distancing from Putin's Russia. But the damage was done.

The rest of European Union and NATO began viewing Israel with suspicions, knowing how pro-Trump Israel is. Emerging clues about Israeli support for Russian interference surged. In fact, the relationship between Israel and the EU has never been easy, even when they have many in commons.

Israeli government never accepts any legal Palestinian state, judging that the Roman Empire renamed it, and the Jews returned to reclaim it. Most of Israeli population, no matter liberal or conservative, largely agree. But the EU, willing to brand it as the official successor of the once-mighty Roman Empire, demands Israel to stop its activities against Palestinians. And then, Israel clashes with the EU on other issues. Israel wants to get rid of the nuclear deal between Iran and other major powers, but EU rejects the move. Russia can also be seen in this heated Israeli-EU confrontation, Israel doesn't support sanctions on Russia, but EU does; Israel shows little interests in backing Ukraine despite the current Ukrainian President is a Jew. The EU also wants to appease Turkey to protect EU from the flood of refugees, but Israel, alongside Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Trump's United States and Russia, wants to contain Turkey, seeing Erdogan as a threat to peace. Then, antisemitism in Europe is rising, with radical right-wing figures turned to prominence, further worsens the perception of EU among Israelis.

And Israel is also afraid of losing privileges enjoyed during the Trump Administration. This is why Israel took a military airstrike against the Iranian-backed force in Syria, warning the subsequent Biden Administration of trying to revive the nuclear deal that Bibi referred to be a "geopolitical disaster". But Biden didn't bother phoning Netanyahu until 17 February 2021, and refuted Israel's fear, going forward for the revival efforts. Biden is also upsetting Israel by not supporting Israel's hidden allies like Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, freezing weapon supplies to Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen, etc. Furthermore, Biden appeared sympathetic to Israeli protesters, who are demanding Netanyahu to quit his Prime Minister chair over the charge of corruption.

I had a chance to hear from several Israelis back in Quora, where they provided answers that the EU is outright antisemitic, the United States going to be anti-Israel under Democratic leadership. This made Israel find only one option: looking back to Russia. Putin is not necessarily friendly to Israel, repeat, but Putin has made comparisons between Russophobia and antisemitism when talking about the EU and the U.S., thus Israel found its soul aligned to whom.

The fear of isolation is real. Israel is now associated, not directly, as a dangerous infiltrator. Russia knew best.

What's now?

Israel and Russia are right-wing societies. Not very close, and not likely to be close soon, but Russia and Israel found themselves besieged. One is besieged for its imperialism, the other besieged for being supportive of Trump. And the love affair between Israel and Russia is only getting stronger and deeper.

With Israel, an illiberal democracy, values little about human rights call, meeting Russia, an open dictatorship under the mask of a Presidential republic, there should have been a conflict. Instead, they now work in an imperfect, but balanced harmony. Israel and Russia are increasingly allied, not likely, in a very slow, cautious process. The matter is a long-term goal. How Israel and Russia disregarded others telling its cooperation ranged. Not to say about the unusual antisemitism practised in Russia.

No secret, Israel won't be Russia's ally immediately, but it is becoming more secluded from the EU and America.