Israel is involved in trying to defuse growing tensions between the US and Russia over the latter’s build-up of troops on the Ukrainian border, Army Radio reported on Wednesday morning.
According to the report, the Biden administration requested that Israel serve as a mediator in an attempt to thwart a major crisis between the two world powers.
The report added that Israel is avoiding any public statements about the tension between Russia and Ukraine, both of which have large Jewish populations, out of fear that public support for either side could lead to a surge in anti-Semitism.
Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected an offer from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to mediate between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Prior to Bennett’s trip to meet Putin in Sochi, Russia in October 2021, Ukrainian senior officials requested that Bennett assist Kyiv in mediating with Moscow, even suggesting that a summit be held in Jerusalem.
The Ukrainian officials noted that “Israel has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine.”
Bennett did bring up the suggestion during his meeting with Putin but Putin not only turned him down but also expressed harsh criticism of Zelensky, Israeli officials later said.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
They seem to be able to make peace between Russia and US while at the same time making war between Klal Yisroel and Hashem…
Don’t ask me why (because I don’t know), but I do not think Israel’s mediation between the US and Russia will be good for the Jews.
Israel has much to lose if war breaks about Russia and Ukraine. For starters, this would be the first time since World War I that there is a major war with Jews on both sides (not counting the war between Finland and the Soviet Union, which was a side-show during World War II, and the handful Jews involved with the short conflict between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands). Israel has had good relations with the Russians since the fall of the Soviet Union, and Jewish life in Russia is probably better than ever before (note that most of Russia, as now defined, was largely closed to Jews during the Czarist period). Also an American military focused on Russia will tend to ignore the Middle East, as would a Russia focused entirely on its border with NATO, meaning there will no restraints imposed on the anti-Israel states (e.g. Iran and Syria) who are currently discouraged by the Russians from getting into a total war.