Has Israel overreached itself by acting as though it were a great power with the ability to play a leading role as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine? Just because Israel is on good terms with a superpower like Russia, does it think it can end a conflict in which real world powers can not intervene for fear of how it could evolve? Or maybe it is because Israel has excellent relations with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also holds Israeli citizenship and is unswerving in his support for Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people?
Israel’s history since the founding of the Jewish state tells us that this country has always carried out the policies of colonialist powers, as exemplified by the Suez War. How has Israel suddenly become a great power in the international arena with the wherewithal to settle wars? How can it persuade Russia that it is a credible and neutral mediator when it has given its own citizens the green light to join Zelensky’s forces and the mercenaries fighting on his side against the Russians?
A whole train of Israeli governments since the founding of the state have failed to reach a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict triggered by that state’s aggressive settler policies. So how does it expect to end the Russian-Ukrainian war when it, itself, has been in a state of war for three quarters of a century? As for the height of absurdity, it is to be found in the Israeli offer to host negotiations in occupied Jerusalem. The mind boggles at the very thought of Israel sponsoring a settlement to prevent a Russian occupation of Ukraine in a city that the entire international community (apart from the US under Donald Trump) recognises as an occupied Arab city, in which, what is more, the occupation authorities have aroused international censure for house demolitions, expropriations, revocation of residence documents dating back generations, expulsions of the native inhabitants and other such wrongful measures in their relentless drive to Judaise the occupied city. Perhaps these are some of the reasons why Russia has so far given no indication that it might take the Israeli offer seriously.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 24 March, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Short link: