The ministers found themselves on a friendly wave – Newspaper Kommersant No. 163 (7125) dated 09/10/2021

by time news

The first talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid showed that the assumptions about a change in Moscow’s course towards Israel after the new government came to power in this country is clearly exaggerated. Not a word was spoken in condemnation of the Israeli strikes on Syria. On the contrary, the Russian minister stressed that Moscow would not want Syrian territory to be used against Israel or anyone else. Another gesture towards the guests was the understanding expressed by Moscow that now is not the time to pedalize the question of a political settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The first visit to Moscow by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was very short, but this did not prevent the minister from finding a common language with the host in the person of Sergei Lavrov. The meeting began with personal notes: the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry congratulated his colleague on his recent inauguration, and he expressed condolences in connection with the death of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Yevgeny Zinichev. Traditionally, both sides agreed on the topic of inadmissibility of revising history and justifying Nazism. “The Holocaust identified my father, and through him he identified me,” Mr. Lapid said several years ago at a commemoration ceremony for the victims of Nazism in Israel. He returned to the story of his father in Moscow, telling how the Red Army liberated a 13-year-old boy from the Budapest ghetto. It is noteworthy that his predecessor Gabi Ashkenazi six months ago in Moscow also recalled the release of his father, who was born in Bulgaria, by the Red Army. And these are not empty words spoken out of politeness. In many respects, these common memories are the basis of modern Russian-Israeli relations. All the difficult pages of the joint history, of which there were also many, the sides somehow tried to turn over.

«We owe you. And we are a people with a long memory, ”said Yair Lapid, speaking about the role of the Red Army in the victory over fascism, and also recalling the participation of the USSR in the creation of the State of Israel.

All these words did not prevent the Israeli minister from attacking at a press conference with accusations against Iran, which Moscow regards as its important regional partner. “The last thing any of us would like to see is nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. The world must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear potential. If the world fails to deal with this, Israel reserves the right to act. Israel will not allow Iran to become a nuclear power, ”said Yair Lapid. Moscow, as a rule, opposes bellicose rhetoric against Tehran, considering it counterproductive. Just the day before, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov stressed this. But this time Sergey Lavrov did not react in any way to the remark of his colleague, apparently not wanting to publicize the differences in his vision of how to communicate with Iran. But in the main, Moscow has no objections – nuclear weapons in the hands of Tehran or someone else new, no one needs. Another issue is that Russia considers Washington, not Tehran, guilty of breaking the deal that limited Iran’s nuclear program. Note that on the day of his meeting with Yair Lapid, the Russian Foreign Minister had a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian – the call took place at the latter’s request. So Moscow managed to maintain a balance between its partners.

At the same time, at a press conference, Sergei Lavrov demonstrated an understanding of the Israeli point of view when it came to the Iranian presence in Syria.

The Russian Foreign Minister called Israel’s interests in Syria “legitimate” (as opposed to the American ones). These words came in response to a Kommersant’s question whether Israeli strikes on Syrian territory were discussed at the talks and whether the Russian side expressed any claims on this score.

According to the Russian minister, Moscow has always emphasized that for it “the security of Israel is one of the key priorities.” “Speaking about Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, we are against Syria turning into an arena of confrontation between third countries. And in this regard, we do not want the Syrian territory to be used against Israel or against anyone else, ”said Sergei Lavrov. These words can be regarded as a clear hint to Iran not to cross borders. However, this does not mean that Moscow, if necessary, will not designate the Israelis their borders in Syria, but so far Russian diplomats make it clear that there are no changes in relations with Israel.

Recall that lately the Russian military has taken as a rule to comment on each strike of Israel, reporting on the destruction of Israeli missiles of the Syrian air defense using the Pantsir-S and Buk-M2 complexes, which was perceived by the Arab press as a change in the “rules of the game by Moscow” after the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu from the post of Prime Minister of Israel. Meanwhile, Kommersant’s diplomatic sources in Moscow noted that everything is still good in relations between the two countries. Kommersant’s sources in Israel recently praised Russia’s efforts to reconcile in southern Syria, near the Israeli borders. Yair Lapid made it clear that Israel is always ready to discuss issues related to Syria with Russia. So we can say that in this issue, the parties, despite the nuances, find a common language and it is more important for them to demonstrate a commonality of views than to focus on disagreements.

Another example of mutual understanding was the statements on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Moscow remains ready to assist in establishing contacts between the parties, both at the bilateral level and within the framework of the “quartet of Middle East mediators” (RF, USA, EU and UN). Sergei Lavrov called the holding of the Quartet’s meeting at the ministerial level useful, but admitted that there are reasons due to which the “political aspects of the Middle East settlement” are paused. Moscow will obviously not pedal this topic, realizing its futility at the moment. “There is nothing to discuss yet,” Yair Lapid, in turn, said, answering the question whether a meeting of the “quartet” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly is possible.

Israel is really not up to negotiations with Palestine on a political future, it would be to refrain from a new war. On the eve of Mr Lapid’s visit to Moscow, clashes erupted again between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. They were provoked by the escape of Palestinian prisoners from a prison in northern Israel. Actions of solidarity with prisoners were announced in the Palestinian territories. However, this topic was not touched upon in any way at a press conference in Moscow. Still, the main thing was to focus on bilateral relations.

“I don’t want to give the impression that the whole conversation between me and Lavrov was only about threats and wars. The countries have deep and strong ties that relate to the economy, culture, tourism, energy and science. We want and can develop these relationships.

In a world affected by the coronavirus, we must find new ways of doing business and developing cultural and commercial ties, ”said Yair Lapid.

The presence of the Minister of Tourism Konstantin Razvozov in the Israeli delegation looked like a positive signal. While it is not easy to come to Israel due to coronavirus restrictions, you need a special permit. As a rule, it is given for family or medical reasons. After entering, you need to serve a weekly quarantine. But both sides hope that the situation will change for the better. In the meantime, Yair Lapid invited Sergei Lavrov to visit Israel (there may also be exceptions for such visits), and the Russian minister agreed with pleasure.

Marianna Belenkaya

.

You may also like

Leave a Comment