Russia and the Arab-Israeli conflict

Russia plays an important role with respect to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is a member of the Quartet on the Middle East. For related developments prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, see the article Soviet Union and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

1 Russia's return to the Middle East
2 Russian-Hamas talks, 2006
3 List of international terror groups
4 Contacts with Hezbollah
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
8 Further reading

[edit] Russia's return to the Middle East

After 2001 the government of Vladimir Putin intensified Russia's involvement in the region, supporting Iran's nuclear programs and forgiving Syria 73% of its $13 billion debt.^[1]

In his September 10, 2004 article Middle East Horizons of Russian Foreign Politics. Russia returns to one of the world's key regions, Mikhail Margelov, the Head of the Foreign Relations Council of the Russian Federation, wrote:

"President Putin called for the renewal of contacts with the countries with which Russia maintained long friendly relations and invested a lot of material and intellectual resources. The Arab countries constitute a large part of those counties. ... In general, the positions of Russia and the majority of Arab countries on key issues of development of the political situation in the region coincide."^[2]

According to March 2007 brief entitled Russia's New Middle Eastern Policy: Back to Bismarck? by Ariel Cohen (Institute for Contemporary Affairs),

"Syria ... was supplying Hizbullah with Russian weapons. In 2006, Israeli forces found evidence of the Russian-made Kornet-E and Metis-M anti-tank systems in Hizbullah's possession in southern Lebanon. The Russian response to accusations that it was supplying terrorist groups with weapons was an announcement, in February 2007, that Russia's military will conduct inspections of Syrian weapons storage facilities with the goal of preventing the weapons from reaching unintended customers. Predictably, such developments placed considerable strain on the already-deteriorating relations between Russia and Israel...

For several years Russia has been attempting to engage in military cooperation with both Israel and Syria. However, the levels of cooperation with the two states are inversely related and an escalation of arms sales to Syria can only damage the relationship with Israel. Russian-Syrian military cooperation has gone through numerous stages: high levels of cooperation during the Soviet era, which was virtually halted until 2005, and now Russia's attempt to balance its relationship with both Israel and Syria. However, Russia's recent eastward leanings might indicate that Moscow is prepared to enter a new stage in its military cooperation with Syria, even if this is to the detriment of its relationship with Israel.^[3]

[edit] Russian-Hamas talks, 2006

The Russia-Hamas talks of 2006 began on March 3, 2006, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to discuss the future of the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after Hamas became the majority party of the Palestinian National Authority Legislative Council, having won a majority of seats in the Palestinian elections. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Australia,^[4] Canada,^[5]^[6] the European Union,^[7] Israel,^[8] Japan,^[9] the United Kingdom,^[10] and the United States,^[11] and is banned in Jordan.^[12]

On February 10, 2006 Spanish parlament member told Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Kommersant journalist Andrey Kolesnikov, that Putin does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.^[13]

The perspective of giving legitimacy to Hamas have angered some Israeli officials.^[14] A cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit accused Putin of "stabbing Israel in the back". After the interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert communicated with Putin, the Israeli position somewhat softened.^[15]

In an interview in Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta published on February 13, 2006, Mashal said that Hamas would temporarily stop armed struggle against Israel if it recognized the "1967 borders" and withdrew itself from all "Palestinian territories" (including the West Bank and East Jerusalem). He refused to acknowledge the Road map for peace, adopted by the Quartet in June 2003, "since nobody respects it". The Road map projected the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in 2005.

Following Hamas' victory in January 2006, the EU announced that future aid to the Palestinians is tied to "Three Principles" outlined by the international community:

Hamas must renounce violence
Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist
Hamas must express clear support for the Middle East peace process, as outlined in the Oslo accords.

During the talks in March 2006, Lavrov called on the Hamas to comply with the earlier commitments signed by the PLO, and reiterated these three requirements but Hamas refused.^[16]

On March 7, Russia expressed hope that Hamas would consider supporting the Road map for peace and peace plan proposed by Saudi Arabia, but it did not materialize. Israeli spokesman stated: "They (Hamas) did not accept any of those principles ... therefore I don't know where they (Russia) draw their optimism from Hamas changing its ways."^[17]

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority said that he would oppose the creation of a Palestinian state with temporary borders and further Israel's unilateral withdrawals.

The invitation and the talks have caused controversy wherein Russia's intentions in changing its views towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were questioned in the West.

[edit] List of international terror groups

Russian list of international terrorism published in the official daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta on July 28, 2006 contained seventeen terror groups. It included al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood, as well as groups linked to separatist militants in Chechnya and Islamic radicals in Central Asia but omitted both Hamas and Hezbollah. Yury Sapunov, the top official of Russian Federal Security Service in charge of fighting international terrorism, said that the list "Includes only those organizations which represent the greatest threat to the security of our country." ^[18]

[edit] Contacts with Hezbollah

Russian intelligence agencies have a history of contacts with Lebanese Shia organizations, such as Amal Movement and Hezbollah ^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]Russian-made anti-tank weapons played significant role in Hezbollah operations against Israel Defense Forces during 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. It was claimed that "Russian Fajr-1 and Fajr-3 rockets, Russian AT-5 Spandrel antitank missiles and Kornet antitank rockets" ^[23] have been supplied to Hezbollah through Syria and Iran ^[24] Muslim GRU detachments from Chechnya were transfered to Lebanon independently on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to restore the roads and "to improve Moscow’s image in the Arab and Muslim world". ^[25]