SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY and THE NETANYAHU PUTIN LOVE FEST
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday he would be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future no date set as yet.
Love Fest
This will be the fourth meeting between the two leaders in 2018.
Its believed they will be discussing current protocols for Syria conflict between Israel and Russia’s military.
All this shuttle diplomacy begs the question why is it so necessary for Netanyahu to court Putin if the relationship is strong and co-operative.
The answer is simple if not complicated. The opportunity for potential tensions between Israel and a strident Russia on the Golan is inevitable. Russia has and will continue to impinge on Israel’s traditional sphere of influence which up until Russia’s move into Syria in 2015 was virtually the exclusive preserve of the Jewish State.
Israel is very aware that Putin’s Russia may seek to impose some future settlement between Assad’s Syria and Israel involving a cordon sanitaire in the Golan Heights with Russian forces guaranteeing the peace between the two belligerents.
Any such agreement would place Russia in control of Israel’s northern border and a threat to the Jewish States ‘HeartLand”.
Heartland Under Threat
It should, therefore, be no surprise that strategic thinkers in Jerusalem and Moscow plan for the inevitability of conflict between the two countries while maintaining a rigid diplomatic discourse between Netanyahu and Putin.
Don’t be fooled by the mutual love fest going on between both leaders. They are two very smart and tough operators and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu knows Russia is determined to gain military and strategic dominance of Syria and eventual hegemony of the Middle East.
Only Israel stands in their way of achieving this historical goal. You can add Israels proposed Gas pipeline into Europe and realise Russia perceives Israel as a future threat to its national interest.
Threat to National Interests
All this said Israel cannot abandon the principle of ‘Never Again!’ and allow a predatory Russia to dictate the balance of power in the Middle East and certainly not the redrawing of Israel’s sovereign borders.
This would be tantamount to committing national suicide. In the meantime, Netanyahu must do all he can to involve Trumps America in the region thereby creating a balance of power based on common interest and constructive outcomes.
Should Israel be successful in resurrecting U.S. hegemony in the Middle East it will have undermined Russia’s ambitions in the region and stalled Iran’s dream of a restored Caliphate under Iranian leadership.
Israel must succeed in finding this balance if not disaster on a scale not seen since the Second World war is inevitable.
At the moment the challenge lies with the statesman if they should fail it will very quickly pass to the generals and all bets will be off.
