Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

One of the greatest misperceptions in modern times is the notion that Russia is secretly against Israel, which is pushed by the Mainstream Media (MSM) and the Alt-Media Community (AMC) despite them being one another’s rivals, each in advance of their own ideological interests. The MSM believes that this contributes to anti-Russian fearmongering while the AMC believes that this makes people like Russia more. Before explaining why this isn’t true, here are five background briefings for folks to review:

* 10 May 2018: “President Putin On Israel: Quotes From The Kremlin Website (2000-2018)”

* 25 October 2023: “Both Sides Should Appreciate Russia’s Principled Neutrality Towards The Israeli-Hamas War”

* 19 November 2023: “Lavrov Revealed That Putin Has Been A Lifelong Supporter Of ‘Ironclad Security’ For Israel”

* 31 December 2023: “Clarifying Lavrov’s Comparison Of The Latest Israeli-Hamas War To Russia’s Special Operation”

* 1 September 2024: “Lavrov’s Comparison Of Israel & Ukraine As Regional Warmongers Isn’t As Clear-Cut As It Seems”

In brief, Russia has always carefully balanced between Israel and the Iranian-led Resistance Axis, but it’s usually leaned closer to Israel since it never seriously considered sanctioning the self-professed Jewish State even though it earlier agreed with the UNSC to impose sanctions against the Islamic Republic. To this day, despite loudly advocating for the Palestinians’ political and humanitarian cause, Russia still won’t sanction Israel or arm Hamas. Israel isn’t even symbolically designated as an “unfriendly country”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used his latest interview with Sky News Arabia to remind the world about the true state of his country’s relations with Israel, to which Russia remains committed in ensuring its security contrary to what the MSM and AMC have claimed. He’s not “playing 5D chess” to “psyche out the Zionists” like some from the second media camp might imagine but is simply doing his job by articulating Russia’s foreign policy as it objectively exists. Here’s what he told his interlocutor:

“When some officials justify their actions by saying that they - the Jewish people - were victims of the Holocaust and therefore can be forgiven, this is a troubling trend. It is a sign of the exceptionalism characteristic of Hitler’s Germany and its ideology.

I have many friends in Israel. The vast majority of them understand that the issue of a Palestinian state must be resolved and that suppressing the natural rights of the Palestinian people is unacceptable.

…

Personally, I have good relations with many of my Israeli colleagues, including former ones. When speaking about the Middle East policy, President Vladimir Putin highlights Russia’s full commitment to security and fundamental interests of the State of Israel.

It is not for nothing that I mentioned the necessity of implementing the resolutions that require resolving the Middle East issues on a two-state basis, so that two independent and sovereign states, Israel and Palestine, exist as good neighbours, safely for each other and for the entire region. This essential approach needs no explanation; it complies with the interests of both Israel and Palestine.

We always stress in all our actions that no solutions are going to be viable if they fail to ensure Israel’s security, among other things, but not at the expense of the security of others.”

Several points stand out from what he said. For starters, while his comparison of Israel’s exceptionalist attitude to the Nazis’ is very unflattering and critical of the self-professed Jewish State, observers should remember that Russia still doesn’t regard Israel as an “unfriendly country”. Putin has also repeatedly praised it for remembering the USSR’s role in ending the Holocaust and continuing to commemorate Victory Day on 9 May. Here are three examples among many from the official Kremlin website:

* 9 May 2018: “Talks with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu”

* 17 September 2019: “Keren Hayesod Foundation conference”

* 23 January 2020: “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism forum”

Accordingly, any hype from the AMC about Russia supposedly being about to openly turn against Israel as implied by this latest rhetoric doesn’t align with the facts, and Lavrov even made as much clear in the second part of what he said in his interview. Not only does he have “many friends in Israel”, but he also has “good relations” with many of his Israeli colleagues, and he “always stress[es] in all of our actions that no solutions are going to be viable if they fail to ensure Israel’s security”.

The caveat though is that this should “not (be) at the expense of the security of others”, ergo why Russia continues to adhere to UNSC Resolutions calling for a two-state solution since it sincerely believes that this is essential to sustainably resolving the so-called ‘Palestinian Question’. This policy contrasts with Israel’s, which has unilaterally decided to ignore international law, thus lending false credence to the MSM and AMC’s claims that Russia is against Israel even though the aforesaid insight disproves that.

Russian diplomats have worked hard to carefully balance between Israel and the Iranian-led Resistance Axis, which is why it’s very disappointing that only a few of their supporters in the AMC recognize this, instead being convinced that they’re all a bunch of liars with a transparently anti-Israeli agenda.

Those who sincerely support Russia don’t have to agree with its regional balancing act, but they should at least acknowledge that it exists, not continue making false claims about it secretly being against Israel.