Putin Is Exploiting the Bloody Events in Gaza To Strengthen His Position

The leader of a country who is committing war crimes against an independent country and its citizens is presenting himself as someone working to advance compromise and peace. This is no joke; it’s a fact; a reality that was ridiculously presented to great ridicule during a special debate at the United Nations.

In Israel they are guessing and assessing “whether Iran knew from the start about the Hamas attack. In my estimate, Iran not only knew but Russia was updated on the murderous plan by Hamas against Israel.”* A veteran Western diplomat and known expert on the Middle East issues told me this, although not for attribution.

The diplomat explained that “this is not only my assessment, but my colleagues in the building agree with me. They forget that several weeks ago, senior leaders from Hezbollah visited Moscow and met with senior Kremlin leaders. They didn’t talk about the weather.”*

What emerges from every discussion, interview and reaction among ambassadors and senior diplomats at U.N. headquarters in New York is that the murderous attack by Hamas and its aftermath in Israel and Gaza have landed on Russia like a gift from heaven. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the harsh reports, the chilling accounts of Hamas’ barbaric acts, the photos showing the aftermath of Israeli air force bombing in Gaza, the crisis that at this stage appears to have no end, have fallen into Putin’s hands as a special gift that was almost ordained from the beginning.

First, the war that Russia has conducted in Ukraine for two years by bombing civilian targets has disappeared from the headlines. Does anyone remember that after thousands of Ukrainian children were kidnapped and then smuggled into Russia, the International Criminal Court in the Hague formally denounced Putin as a war criminal?

Hypocrisy for Its Own Sake

The Hamas attack gave Russia an excellent opportunity to offer Iran something in return — thanks and appreciation boradcast by the media — for the military aid the Islamic regime in Tehran is streaming to Russia to support the war crimes Moscow is committing in Ukraine. From Putin’s perspective, the important benefit of the Hamas attack is that he can exploit the chaos created in the region to demonstrate political presence and diplomatic involvement and make contact with countries in the region as an influential player.

In conversation, Putin told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his discussions with leaders of countries in the region and his contacts with the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. Putin is exploiting the bloody events in Gaza as a lever to present himself as an active and involved global leader in relation to the loathed U.S. president, Joe Biden. The leader of a country who has committed war crimes for almost two years against an independent state and its citizens is presenting himself as someone working to promote compromise and peace. This is no joke; it’s a fact; a reality that was ridiculously presented to great ridicule during a special debate this week at the United Nations Security Council. The Russian ambassador, representing a country that knowingly and deliberately launches missiles against civilian targets, presented a resolution that included a cease-fire. The resolution did not contain any hint of condemning the surprise attack and massacre of Israeli civilians.

The resolution, which was meant to benefit the Hamas murderers, failed. China, Russia, Mozambique, the United Arab Emirates and Gabon voted for the resolution. The United States, Great Britain, France and Japan defeated the ridiculous resolution. Malta, Ghana, Albania, Brazil, Ecuador and Switzerland abstained from the vote. In strong and pointed remarks, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said, “Hamas is motivated by an ideology similar to that of the Nazis: to destroy the Jewish people and to wipe out the State of Israel.” The ambassador even quoted from the Hamas covenant, which he condemned as “Hitler’s Mein Kampf on steroids.” This is the same Security Council, we should mention, that two years ago failed to denounce or even address Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. Russia’s ambassador in the Security Council vetoed the resolution and prevented any efforts to speak against Russia. You could say that this is the same murderer who initiated a resolution aimed at benefiting the Hamas murderers. A senior Western diplomat defined it by saying “The murderer administers his murder trial.”*

Lessons from the Past

The Hamas attack and reactions from the United Nations have revealed a development in the balance of global power. This is not a new development, but it is a trend that is gathering momentum. An axis of evil has been formed. A group of large countries has formed an alliance of friendship, military ties and cooperation between them — Iran, China, and Russia. China has not been that noticeable recently because it is engaged in efforts to save its collapsing state economy. However, China supports every step taken against Israel. In contrast to the period before World War II and its early years, when the axis of evil of Germany, Japan and Italy acted virtually unimpeded, this time a determined, unified Western bloc must act against the destructive axis of Iran, Russia and China. This bloc includes the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany, a bloc that has the support and friendship of centrist countries including Japan, Italy, South Korea, among others. This coalition is united in its objectives, one of which is blocking criminal organizations like Hamas and eliminating their ability to kill and destroy.

*Editor’s Note: These quotes, though accurately translated, could not be independently verified.