Israel is also watching developments in the Ukraine crisis. With its interests caught in the middle, the country is careful not to antagonize either side.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has been delivering the same message on TV and in newspapers for days: "I have to be careful," says the politician from the liberal Yesh Atid party, referring to the Ukrainian-Russian tensions. "Perhaps more careful than any other foreign minister in the Western world."
The background: Israel finds itself in a rather uncomfortable situation in this crisis on the European continent, caught right in the middle of the conflict. Although the Jewish state is not directly involved in the region, it nevertheless has interests in the conflict, primarily related to the actors involved.
Dependent on Russia
Relations with Russia are particularly at stake: Since President Putin rushed to the aid of dictator Assad in the civil war-torn country of Syria in 2015, Russian troops have been stationed in Israel's immediate vicinity. This is especially problematic because Israel also regularly – and that means routinely – intervenes militarily in Syria, targeting objectives belonging to Iran or its allies.
To avoid conflict with Russia, the two sides have agreed on a military coordination that has been functioning for several years: Although Russia is allied with Syria, it allows Israeli attacks to occur and avoids them. Without this tacit agreement, Israel's proactive defense against Iran in the neighboring country would not be possible.
But this Russian-Israeli cooperation has by no means always been free of tension. Just a few days ago, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its displeasure with the ongoing military strikes, which it called a "gross violation of Syrian sovereignty." Shortly before this, it had become known that Russia intends to patrol the borders jointly with Syria, including in the Golan Heights. Certainly a signal.
For Israel, the priority is therefore to prevent any repercussions from Ukrainian-Russian tensions on Israeli-Russian relations, particularly cooperation in Syria. Jerusalem is thus unwilling to offer any loud criticism of Russia's actions in Eastern Europe, and certainly not to take sides: The Israeli newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" reported on Tuesday that Israel had refused to deliver the high-performance "Iron Dome" missile defense system, which has proven particularly effective around Gaza, to Ukraine.
not to strain relations with the USA
At the same time, the Jewish state cannot afford to antagonize its most important partner by far, the USA. Should a Russian invasion occur and Western sanctions subsequently be imposed, this would put the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (Yamina) in an uncomfortable position.
In 2014, when Putin annexed Crimea, there had already been at least some friction in American-Israeli relations when Israel did not participate in a UN vote condemning Russia's actions – allegedly due to a strike by Israeli diplomats. Later, however, Israel did condemn Russia's policies regarding eastern Ukraine.
Distraction from Iran
But there are other reasons why Israel has an interest in seeing the situation de-escalate as soon as possible, without escalating further. In Jerusalem, attention is currently focused not only on Kyiv and Moscow, but primarily and even more so on Vienna. There, negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran have reached a crucial stage.
Israel has consistently attacked the 2015 agreement, viewing it as a threat to its security. Accordingly, it is also viewing the current negotiations with skepticism. Jerusalem fears that a war in Ukraine, and thus a further weakening of America's global power, could ultimately lead to a more favorable outcome for Iran.
“It bothers us that the Ukraine crisis is diverting attention from the nuclear talks,” Foreign Minister Lapid recently stated in an interview with the Israeli news site “Walla!”. “We want greater US attention to prevent dangerous things from happening there.”
Concern also for Jews in Russia and Ukraine
Currently, however, the foreign minister is primarily occupied with strongly urging Israeli citizens to leave Ukraine. Because Israel sees itself as the state of all Jews worldwide, it is also concerned about at least several tens of thousands of Jews in Ukraine, once a heartland of European Jewry.
Should war break out, it is entirely conceivable that Israel would deploy its army to evacuate Jews, as it did in 1984 and 1991 with Operations Moses and Solomon. "Israel will be there for them, just as it was for the Ethiopian Jews. It is my responsibility," Lapid says, adding: "I have a problem that no one else has, namely two large Jewish communities [in Russia and Ukraine] that we have to protect."
Conflict with Ukrainian ambassador
This is also why the Israeli government cannot afford to take a clearer stance. Even reports that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is considering offering Israel a mediating role in the conflict have recently not been well received by all of his cabinet colleagues.
So the foreign minister prefers to play it safe in public: "I am in favor of a peaceful solution to this matter. We must listen to everyone. Understand what the Russians are saying because of their fears regarding Ukraine's NATO membership. And listen carefully when Ukraine talks about its sovereignty."
Either way, Israel is feeling the effects of the Ukraine conflict. When Lapid announced at the beginning of the month that he did not believe in a Russian invasion, the Ukrainian ambassador in Tel Aviv expressed his "deepest dismay" in a public Facebook post. Lapid was repeating "the rhetoric of Russian propaganda," the ambassador said. The word "disgrace" was also used. The ambassador subsequently had to explain himself at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
