Israel[/B] and the Arab countries condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the UN Extraordinary General Assembly. However, as in the case of Turkey, they continue to remain indifferent to the sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow, maintaining practically equal distances.
This tactic seems, in fact, to have caused irritation and discomfort in the White House and the State Department, as Washington finds in practice that Vladimir Putin will be cornered, but still has valuable escape routes.
And you, "son of Israel"?
Particularly with regard to Israel, the Americans make no secret of the fact that they would expect much more at this stage. This is because they consider its attitude almost... ungrateful, given the political and military support it has provided over the years - having, among other things, vetoed many Security Council resolutions on its behalf when it blatantly violated international law, especially on the Palestinian issue.
"Now you have to decide: You are with the Russians or you are with the United States and the West," former US Defense Secretary William Cohen told CNN and Christiane Amanpour. His words do not reflect the reactions that Israel's stance has provoked more broadly.
Indicative of this stance - even surprising to some - is the fact that the Naftali Bennett administration has so far avoided openly condemning Russia for the damage done to the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial in Kiev, where tens of thousands of Jews were murdered by the Nazis in 1941.
It is also reported that despite a request made by (Jewish-born) Volodymyr Zelensky to Bennett for Israeli military aid to Ukraine, the latter refused - according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth - limiting himself to sending a shipment of humanitarian aid and medical supplies.
Syria and the Jews of Russia
But why is this happening? As Britain's The Guardian writes, Israel "on the one hand, is obliged to stand by its Western allies, support Ukraine's Jewish president and help its Jewish population escape the suffering of war. On the other hand, however, Israel is reluctant to compete with Russia, on which it relies to carry out its military operations in Syria. Beyond that, any move could ignite anti-Semitism against the large Jewish communities of Ukraine and Russia."
The same newspaper also reports that the Israeli Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, addressed the US ambassador and asked him not to include in the sanctions against Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich who, although a Putin supporter, is a major donor to many Jewish institutions.
For its part, the Israeli Haaretz puts on the table another aspect that can interpret Israel's stance: "to keep open the possibility of acting as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine," taking advantage of its privileged relations with the United States and its ties with both Putin and Zelensky.
The OPEC-Russia alliance
The paradox, in theory, is that Israel's tactics are almost identical to those of its Arab neighbours, with whom it was until recently divided by mortal enmity, but for the past two years impressive steps have been taken to normalise their relations. "The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries has tried to maintain a neutral stance between its Western allies and Russia, a partner in OPEC," Reuters notes - and while Putin is known to have been in close contact with the UAE monarch since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.
Trying to interpret this attitude, some analysts underline that, among other things, the "Putin model" is particularly attractive to the rulers of the Gulf monarchies, who are not related to democracy. In fact, to the extent that they admire him and want to imitate him.
The truth, however, is that this is not the main factor determining their actions. Recall that OPEC and Russia have been in full coordination for at least a year and a half, openly manipulating the world oil market through their production cap. In this way, they keep prices at very high levels, filling their coffers with hundreds of billions of petrodollars.
So, as anyone can easily see, if the Arabs wanted to hurt Putin, they could open the production spigots (which they can do more easily than anyone else) and cause a sharp drop in prices - and, consequently, in Moscow's revenues, which now need them more than ever. In an even more extreme case, they could also deprive it of customers, both in oil and gas, adopting the well-known tactic of unfair competition.
The message to the US
It is clear, however, that they have chosen to do none of the above. This is because they are looking beyond the war in Ukraine and determining their stance based on the "big picture" of the serious upheavals taking place globally - which, among other things, have put the Arabs in the same camp as Russia in Libya.
"If you want to change the rules of the game and reduce your commitments to us, then we have the right to be less loyal to you." This is the message that the regimes in the region are sending to the US, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations executive, Kinzia Bianco, who comments on the data created by the gradual American disengagement from the region - which became clear especially once they managed to become energy self-sufficient.
The rift is also visible in Washington's relations with Saudi Arabia, once a cornerstone of its strategy in the Middle East and the wider region. And revealing of this is a (rather angry) statement by the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Bin Salman: "I just don't care."
"I just don't care," he said in response to a question from The Atlantic whether he thinks Joe Biden doesn't understand and misunderstands him. "We don't have the right to lecture you in America. The same goes the other way around," continued the Riyadh strongman, who also appears ... bothered by the fact that he was photographed as the main culprit in the 2018 murder of his rival and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
As if that were not enough, bin Salman not only did not explicitly and unequivocally condemn Russia, but left open the possibility of imposing... sanctions on the United States! "Just as we have the ability to strengthen our position, we also have the ability to limit it," he said, referring to his country's huge investments in the US market (bonds and businesses), estimated at 800 billion
Iran unites them
Finally, it is worth noting that on the geopolitical and economic map of the Middle East, Israel and the Arab regimes have something else that unites them and obliges them to coordinate: Fear of Iran (with whom Saudi Arabia is at war in Yemen) and concern about what signing a new agreement with the US on its nuclear program might mean.
Given that Moscow is now the main ally and main backer of Tehran (which abstained in the UN vote on the war in Ukraine), it makes sense that they would want to have open channels with it to learn about the plans of Iran's leadership - and, if possible, to influence them.
What is certain, in any case, is this: The attitude of every country and group of countries towards Russia after its invasion of Ukraine does not depend only or mainly on the war and the images of horror coming from there. It has to do, above all, with serving particular interests in a rapidly changing world - and with violence.
Source: OT/ in.gr
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