Since the beginning of Vladimir Putin’s onslaught on Ukraine, with the majority of civilized countries siding with the victims, Israel has been walking on eggs, trying not to upset the Russia bear.
One reason for this was the hope in Jerusalem that Israel, with its good relations with both sides, might perhaps serve as a mediator for peace. This noble cause requires that an honest broker be even handed. Then Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, born in Moldova and with excellent contacts in the Kremlin, made a miserable comment on the news about the Russian atrocities, suggesting that there were “mutual accusations.” This prompted a harsh rebuke from the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, and anyway, nothing came out of the Israeli wish to play the role of a peacemaker.
Another, and more important reason for Jerusalem’s caution with Russia lies next to Israel’s northern border: Syria. In the past several years, this war-torn country has become the battleground where Israel has been combating the Iranian thrust to establish in Syria and Lebanon a stronghold with a serious strategic threat to the Jewish state.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has been striking Iranian-related targets in Syria day and night, with considerable success. This should obviously be attributed first and foremost to the excellence of the IAF and its pilots, but there is a Russian caveat here: Since Putin decided to help his friend, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to ruthlessly suppress the anti-regime uprising, Russia has been practically controlling the skies over Syria. For the IAF to operate there, Russia had to turn a blind eye, which it has practically done up till now. Since there is no free lunch, especially with the Russians, Israel had to do its share of not upsetting the Kremlin.
This caution, however, put Israel in a dire situation. Israelis and Jews all around the globe have been traditionally lamenting the fact that the world had been silent and indifferent when six million Jews were massacred by the Nazis. Shouldn’t Israelis and Jews worldwide be on the forefront of protest and action when Ukrainians are indiscriminately bombed and killed?
The answer was given by no other than the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskyy, in his televised appeal to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. He didn’t call Israel by name, but his message was clear: “What is it? Indifference? Premeditation? Or mediation without choosing a party? I will leave you a choice of answer to this question. And I will note only one thing — indifference kills. Premeditation is often erroneous. And mediation can be between states, not between good and evil.”
Then, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dropped a bombshell. When asked by Italian journalists how Russia could possibly claim that it was fighting to “de-Nazify” Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is himself Jewish, Lavrov said: “I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. [That Zelensky is Jewish] means absolutely nothing. Wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews.”
If nothing else moved Jerusalem to take sides before, Lavrov’s outrageous anti-Semitic statement did it. Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid condemned it harshly, and demanded an apology. Instead, Moscow only added fuel to the fire, with the Russian foreign ministry stating that Lapid’s comments “explain to a large extent why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.”
Israel should have known from day one that appeasing dictators never works, not more than eight decades ago, nor today. We should have heeded Zelenskyy’s wise directive, that “mediation can be between states, not between good and evil.” Russia has become the pariah of the world, and Israel should be careful not to be associated with Russia’s remaining friends: Belarus, Chechnya and China, who always prefer interests over ideals and human values.
Practically speaking, even without Lavrov’s wake-up call, there has already been a motion in Israel to scale up the assistance to Ukraine. We should definitely do more, and while this is the right thing to do, I’m writing this with great unease: Surely the vindictive Russians will make life more difficult for my IAF comrades when they take off to Syria to defend Israel. This, however, is a risk we should be taking, when choosing between good and evil.
Col. Uri Dromi IAF (Ret.) flew in the Israeli Air Force between 1966 and 2003.
