Israel Will Not Replace Its Ally America with Russia

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz opined that Russia is not viable as an alternative ally to the United States. This comes as Vladimir Putin confirmed the speculation that he would be the most powerful man in Russia and would lead his country until 2024, becoming the greatest leader to rule Russia since Stalin. Putin has completed two terms as president of the country and a third as its prime minister.

The Israeli writer Adar Primor said that Putin’s return to the Kremlin last week rehashed the wave of analyses that all lead to one conclusion: Vladimir Putin is the country’s most powerful man. Meanwhile, he points out that Russia has not recovered from its collapse in 1990 and is not ripe for the application of democratic pluralism.

The writer mentioned that Fyodor Lukyanov, a senior political commentator in Russia, wrote an article entitled “Is Israel on the way to becoming a Russian ally?” Lukyanov wrote that one need not wait for a democratic Russia to ally with Israel in the wake of the changes in the Arab world and Middle East. He pointed out that Russia and Israel are opposed to democracy in the Middle East because it will lead to the Islamization of the region. Furthermore, the increased development and advanced technology that Israel has could help Russia with the modernization required to strengthen the Russian bear. He further indicates that an Israeli strike against Iran would solve the main obstacle between Moscow and Tel Aviv.

The Israeli ambassador to Moscow, Zvi Magen, stated that the Middle East is once again an arena for competition among the major countries and that Moscow wants to draw closer to Israel to rein in Turkey, as well as to gain access to the gas fields discovered off Israel’s coast, which are of great importance to Russia. He adds that the alliance between Moscow and Tel Aviv will be strongly influential in the unstable Middle East dominated by uncertainty.

In spite of all of this, Israel should not expect Putin’s visit to be as earth-shaking as Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. Putin will be unable to reverse Russia’s major historical treason against Israel in 1952. This will confirm that Russian policy in the Middle East will not change and Israel will not replace its viable American alliance with a Russian one, especially after the inauguration of Mitt Romney, a close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the helm of governance in the White House. Furthermore, the inevitable winner of the upcoming U.S. elections has called Russia America’s top geopolitical adversary.