https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/12/russia-israel-hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin appear to have a positive relationship: a dozen meetings, a ballet incursion, and the delivery of the remains of an honorable Israeli national. And yet, after the events of the previous Friday, Russia’s voice is all but quiet and still. After a United Nations Security Council meeting, all were in favor of condemning Hamas as the perpetrator and enemy in this attack except for Russia–an act that heavily contradicts the past relationship Putin has had with Israel. Now, there are questions regarding Russia’s part in the deadly Hamas attack on Gaza and what they plan on doing next.
The nature of the timing of the attacks could be seen as coincidental considering the Ukraine-Russia conflict is still occurring. While there hasn’t been significant headway for either side there, Putin could see this attack as the perfect distraction to his advances on Ukraine. As part of the anti-West coalition consisting of North Korea, China, and Iran, Russia could support Iran and other pro-Palestinian countries to turn Arab countries against Israel, causing “discord and contradictions”. This could scale to a full-blown war and provide Russia with the means to inflate its price and earn billions of dollars in oil if Saudi Arabia were to become involved more. While there hasn’t been any clear evidence of Russia working with Hamas in this attack, it’s important to see Russia’s benefits with it. Furthermore, as the relations between Israel and Iran continue to worsen, there could be a chance that an official alliance between the aforementioned anti-West countries form to support Palestine in their efforts for liberation recognition. Russia could be inclined to strengthen relations with Middle Eastern countries supporting Palestine like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt. This article is extremely important because it fleshes out the perspective and mind of a global superpower and its options in this scenario. It’s safe to say now that the effects of the Israel-Hamas war will leave a significant cultural and political change in the field depending on the outcome.
In class, we’ve spoken about the various levels of influence that certain events have, one of them being the individual. It’s easy to believe that Russia’s course of action in the international community would have been the same if it were somebody else as President. Considering his entrance into the Russian government was during a time when anti-Semitism was very apparent, his position in this new war could be seen as distaste towards not just Jewish people but to the Russians who dispersed throughout Asia after the collapse of the USSR, with many finding themselves in Israel.