Russia Has A Balanced Approach Towards The Latest Israeli-Hamas War

The Kremlin’s number one priority one right is to ensure the security of its (dual) citizens in the conflict zone and then do everything in its power to de-escalate the fighting with a view towards eventually mediating a ceasefire that could ultimately get the peace process back on track. These are all gargantuan tasks in and of themselves, not to mention altogether, but Russia is always up for such challenges and is therefore ready to try its best in pursuit of these noble goals.

It’s now impossible for top influencers from the Alt-Media Community (AMC) to lie about Russia’s stance towards the latest Israeli-Hamas war after two of its top officials unequivocally condemned that group’s terrorist methods. “Russia’s Support Of Palestinian Independence Shouldn’t Be Spun As An Anti-Israeli Policy”, but some leading members of the AMC have done so anyhow to generate clout, push an ideology, and/or solicit donations from those among their audience who desperately want it to be true.

Anyone who continues doing so exposes themselves as agenda-driven propagandists after what Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov just said. The first’s relevant comments can be read in their original Russian here and here per TASS’ reports on his recent statements while the second’s were reported in English on their site here. What follows are the relevant excerpts that’ll then be analyzed to further clarify Russia’s balanced position towards this conflict.

Here’s what Peskov had to say on this subject (emphasis added):

“We maintain a dialogue with both sides. Of course, one cannot help but condemn acts that cannot be called anything other than terrorism, but one must also not forget what is the forerunner of this situation.

It is important to maintain a balanced approach and remain in contact with the two sides of the conflict. We have long-standing historical ties with the Palestinians, we have long-standing historical ties with the Israelis, we are united by millions of our fellow citizens who have moved to live in Israel and concern for their safety. [We] must maintain an equal distance.

Only this will give us the right to participate in the settlement process in the future, and Russia can and will play a role in the settlement process…We need to stop terrorist attacks. We need to stop the disproportionate use of force. We need to ensure the minimum needs of the population in Gaza.”

And here’s what Viktorov said (emphasis added):

“The terrorist methods that Hamas militants used at the beginning stages of the confrontation certainly must be condemned; this is non-negotiable. As for taking hostages, it goes without saying that this is unacceptable, especially when it comes to women, children and elderly people. They must be released. Any violence against civilians is unacceptable for us, no matter which side of the border or line of contact civilians are on.”

Russia still recognizes the Palestinian independence as a legitimate cause in spite of Hamas’ terrorist spree over the weekend, which RT reported here and here also resulted in the murder of some of its (dual) citizens, because this aligns with international law as embodied by relevant UNSC Resolutions. Nobody should have expected it to endorse Hamas’ targeted killing of civilians in advance of that group’s political-ideological goals after Russians were victims of such terrorist attacks during the 1990s-2000s.

At the same time, while President Putin resolutely supports Israel’s right to defend itself as proven by this collection of quotes from the official Kremlin website between 2000-2018, Russia is also against Israel’s disproportionate use of force in response to the latest terrorist attacks as well as its settlement policy. Moreover, Moscow is extremely displeased with Tel Aviv’s flat-out refusal to implement the previously mentioned UNSC Resolutions stipulating the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The Kremlin’s number one priority one right is to ensure the security of its (dual) citizens in the conflict zone and then do everything in its power to de-escalate the fighting with a view towards eventually mediating a ceasefire that could ultimately get the peace process back on track. These are all gargantuan tasks in and of themselves, not to mention altogether, but Russia is always up for such challenges and is therefore ready to try its best in pursuit of these noble goals.

From the perspective of its policymakers, the US is responsible for the structural factors of this conflict since it never sincerely encouraged its Israeli ally to implement relevant UNSC Resolutions. Time and again, Washington either turned a blind eye towards Tel Aviv’s refusal to do so, defended its defiance of international law, or only mildly chastised it without any meaningful consequences. This worsened the Palestinians’ suffering and created a fertile environment in which extremism wildly proliferated.

That last-mentioned observation leads to their partial culpability in perpetuating this cycle of violence since certain forces exploited the locals’ unimaginably difficult socio-economic situation over the decades to get them to carry out what can objectively be described as acts of terrorism. Israel took advantage of this every time it happened to dishonestly justify its refusal to implement those aforesaid resolutions and disproportionately respond in ways that worsened Palestinians’ suffering.

America, Israel, and the Palestinians are therefore all to blame in their own ways regardless of however one might apportion responsibility, including if they decide to absolve one or two actors of blame, at least according to the way that Russia understands this conflict. The first declined to leverage its historically leading influence over the second to get it to implement international law, while the terrorist attacks committed in the name of the third’s cause are exploited to falsely justify the first two’s refusal.

The only way to break this vicious cycle of violence is for a truly neutral third party like Russia to replace the US’ role in mediating a comprehensive resolution to this long-running dispute after the latter proved itself biased beyond any doubt and consequently unwilling to honestly negotiate an end to the conflict. Absent that, everything will continue indefinitely with all the immense suffering that entails for both sides, especially the Palestinians whose socio-economic situation is indisputably worse than the Israelis’.

The problem is that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist while Israel isn’t interested in negotiating with that group for precisely this reason. Those two’s latest war will therefore likely be fought to the bitter end wherein only one of them will be left standing by the time it’s over. In the event that Hamas isn’t destroyed for whatever reason, then it could in theory join its West Bank rivals Fatah in Russian-led peace talks but only if it and Israel have the political will to participate.

To be absolutely clear, the best-case scenario of all three successfully resolving their problems as a result of Russian mediation is extremely unlikely, both in the foreseeable future and in general. Even so, the Kremlin still isn’t giving up on that admittedly far-fetched possibility, to which end it must retain equal credibility with all parties. This explains why two of its top officials just condemned Hamas’ terrorism as well as Israel’s disproportionate response to last week’s attacks.

Circling back the AMC, those who keep lying about Russia’s position towards the latest Israeli-Hamas war are working against that country’s interests by discrediting its envisaged role in mediating a resolution to this conflict, no matter how unlikely such a scenario appears at present. At best, they’re functioning as the US’ “useful idiots” to smear Russia, while at worst they’re doing this deliberately under the cover of pretending to be “Russian-friendly”. Either way, they just exposed themselves as propagandists.