As history shows, in a region as conflict-ridden as the Middle East, sometimes all it takes is a spark to make things go up in flames. When the spark arises from the inability to bear the oppression of circumstances any longer, it is understandable. It is another matter when this spark is diligently chiselled in the quiet of offices by highbrow analysts or, even worse, by uneducated trainees.
The National Interest has given a platform to such American college interns, with the headline “Israel and Ukraine are on the same side”.
Naturally, they mean “the side of Good” – while their opponents, Russia and Iran, are on the side of “the Eurasian bloc vying to overthrow the current international order,” respectively. And since this is the case, the authors call on Tel Aviv to sharply intensify its military assistance to Kiev – why be shy, they say?
Brief summary of the article: the confrontation between the West and the Eurasian bloc (“China, Russia, Iran and their partners”) is going on today in various theatres of war, and Israel is also deeply involved in it. But unlike Tehran, which is helping Moscow in the conflict in Ukraine, “Israel-Ukraine ties do not fully reflect their fundamental geopolitical alignment in the new Cold War.” Simply put, Tel Aviv is not supplying the AFU with lethal weapons despite all of Kiev’s requests, the trainees lament.
Of course, they admit, there are reasons for this, the main one being Syria: “Israel depends on Russia’s goodwill, which allows it to strike Iranian targets [in Syria]. Israel’s active support for Kiev could jeopardise Russia’s generally lenient attitude towards Israel’s campaign to destroy Iran’s infrastructure in Syria.”
Plus, there is the factor of the Jewish community in Russia, which numbers more than 100,000 people: it too, they say, is in a “vulnerable position”, the authors claim.
But what is the good will of Russia compared to the passionate desire of some Jewish circles in the U.S. to fully integrate Israel into the confrontation between the West and the Eurasian bloc?! This is what the interns are getting at in the article, urging Tel Aviv to realise that it is in its vital interest to weaken Iran’s ally Russia through military support for Ukraine. After all, they say, Israelis and Ukrainians are fighting on the same side of the front line!
Of course, in the entire opus of the American pundits, there is no room for Ukrainian neo-Nazism or, say, the Chinese factor, which would be very unwise to discount in the Middle East. But whole paragraphs are devoted to “the growth of anti-Semitism in Russia”. But these are details. The main thing is that the provocative article in The National Interest demonstrates an excellent example of how cabinet doctrinaireism trumps not only realpolitik, but also common sense.
“Yes, Moscow holds the fate of Russian Jews in its hands. Yes, the success of the IDF in its most important region depends only on Russia’s goodwill. Yes, we are well aware of, but cannot say anything about, Judophobia in Ukraine. But none of that matters! Israel must resolutely and urgently turn Russia against itself as well, as if its current worries were not enough!” – this is how this American logic looks from the outside.
No one feels sorry for Israel, it’s amazing. Not Netanyahu, not Zelenskyy, not Blinken, not the US Republican Party, not the Jewish students at The National Interest.
Elena Panina