Olmert in Moscow - October 2006

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Visits Russia

Nov. 03	Balto. Jewish Times	No Moscow Thaw
Oct. 24	JTA	Despite friendly words, visit highlights Iran differences
Oct. 23	YNet News	Sofer: Warmth in Moscow; reality in Iran (op-ed)
Oct. 19	J'salem Post	Analysis: Playing politics in Moscow
Oct. 19	Ha'aretz	Op-Ed: Sowing the seeds of a preemptive strike
Oct. 18	Reuters	Israel's Olmert raises Iran in Kremlin talks
Oct. 18	NCSJ	Olmert visits a Moscow shul celebrating its centennial
Oct. 16	J'salem Post	Olmert: 'Not thinking in terms of sanctions' against Iran
Oct. 16	RIA Novosti	Moscow-Jerusalem: fifteen years of cooperation

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Baltimore Jewish Times - 11.03.2006

No Moscow Thaw

Special to the Jewish Times

By Dr. Robert O. Freedman

When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert journeyed to Moscow in mid-October, there had been a sharp deterioration in Russian-Israeli relations. Indeed, given the extremely limited results of the trip for Israel, one could question the wisdom of making the trip. 

While ostensibly it was to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations between the former Soviet Union and Israel, from Mr. Olmert's perspective the trip may have been designed to shore up his shaky political position and his falling position in the Israeli polls.

Russian-Israeli relations had begun to worsen in November 2005 when Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking to increase Russia's influence in the Middle East, agreed to sell sophisticated Tor-1 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran — missiles that could defend Iran's nuclear installations. 

Then, in March 2006, Putin defied the diplomatic consensus reached by the Middle East Diplomatic Quartet (the U.S., U.N., E.U. and Russia) not to have diplomatic dealings with Hamas, which had just won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, until Hamas recognized Israel, renounced violence and agreed to support all previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. 

Next, during this past summer's Israel-Hezbollah War, it was revealed that Russian anti-tank missiles had been transferred to Hezbollah, most likely from Syria or Iran, missiles that caused considerable damage to Israeli forces.

Finally, on the eve of Olmert's Moscow visit, and despite Iran's refusal to comply with the U.N. Security Council demand to stop enriching uranium, Russia again ruled out sanctions against Iran, whose leaders have openly called for Israel's destruction. 

In Moscow, it appears that Olmert had little success in changing Russian policy on his three major priorities — Iran, the transfer of arms to Hezbollah, and Russian diplomatic support for Hamas. A secondary list included the potential purchase of Russian natural gas, and Russian-Israeli cooperation in arms sales to third countries.

On Iran, Olmert stressed the danger of Iran getting nuclear weapons and asserted that Iran would stop the push only if it were "afraid." Olmert appeared to be talking not only about tough sanctions, but also military force. Putin remained publicly non-committal. In private, however, the Russian leader reportedly warned Olmert that using force could end in disaster for the world. Following Olmert's departure, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow's opposition to sanctions against Iran. 

On Russian arms transfers to Hezbollah, Olmert said that he was "satisfied" with Russia steps to "prevent a recurrence of this situation." Lavrov would only say, "Quite a detailed discussion was held on this issue." 

Finally, regarding Russian diplomatic support for Hamas, Israel noted that since the Hamas delegation went to Moscow in March 2006, Hamas still calls for Israel's destruction. If anything, it's become more vituperative in its anti-Israeli rhetoric. As soon as Olmert left Moscow, however, Lavrov asserted, "Demanding now that Hamas fully accept the Quartet's conditions is unrealistic at the present stage." 

Olmert had some satisfaction on secondary issues. He did get Putin's endorsement for his call to raise the annual trade between Israel and Russia to $5 billion, from its current $2 billion per year. 

The two leaders also discussed Israel's purchasing natural gas from Russia via a pipeline from Turkey. (Russia has an excess of gas to export because Turkey has failed to use the amount of gas it had contracted for.) If the deal goes through it will not only sharply increase Russian-Israeli trade, it will also make Israel, in part, dependent on Russian natural gas.

One concrete agreement from the Moscow talks was the setting up of a working group to coordinate arms sales to third countries. Currently, Russia and Israel cooperate in producing weapons systems such as the AWACS(Airborne warfare command system), which was most recently sold to India. But the two countries compete for contracts to refurbish old Soviet equipment such as the MIG-23 and MIG 25 aircraft. 

In sum, despite some limited progress on economic issues and arms sales, and despite positive atmospherics such as Putin warmly greeting Olmert with the word "Shalom," and Olmert praising Putin for being the great leader of an influential country, little of consequence happened during the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to Moscow. Ironically, the visit may be best remembered for Putin's rather ribald open-mike comment about Israeli President Moshe Katzav's sexual prowess. 


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JTA: Global Jewish News - 10.24.2006

Despite friendly words, Olmert visit to Russia highlights Iran differences

By Lev Krichevsky

MOSCOW (JTA) — Russia and Israel may be on better footing than they were in decades past, but differences between them over Iran's nuclear program still surfaced during Ehud Olmert's visit to Moscow. 

Israel has made it clear that it will not tolerate a situation in which Iran gains nuclear weapons, and the Israeli prime minister used talks with President Vladimir Putin last week to urge Moscow to exert its influence to help resolve the international crisis surrounding Tehran's nuclear program. 

"I leave this meeting with the sense that President Putin understands better than before the danger that is lurking from Iran's direction, should it succeed in realizing its objectives of arming itself with nuclear weapons," Olmert told journalists Oct. 18 after his talks with Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov. 

Putin did not address Israeli concerns directly, focusing instead on Russia's role in the Middle East peace process. Russia is a member of the diplomatic grouping known as the Quartet -- which also includes the United States, United Nations and European Union -- trying to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

Putin's comments dealt mainly with Israel's standoff with Hezbollah, and in fact gave little hope that Moscow would do more to persuade Iran to give up its suspected drive to produce nuclear arms. 

"The only way to get out of the vicious circle of violence is to stop making mutual accusations, free hostages and resume peaceful dialogue," Putin said. "Russia, as a member of the Middle East Quartet, intends to assist in a rapid stabilization of the situation and a resumption of the negotiating process." 

Olmert's visit to Russia was his first foreign trip since Israel's war against Hezbollah this summer, and came after Israel complained to Russia that weapons Russia supplied to Syria ended up in Hezbollah hands -- just as Israel had warned when the deals were struck. 

Olmert's visit also came a week before the U.N. Security Council again takes up the Iranian nuclear issue. A draft resolution containing possible sanctions on Tehran is circulating among Security Council members, which include the United States and Russia, this week. 

Russia has been instrumental in constructing Iran's first civilian nuclear power station at Bushehr and long has resisted a push for U.N. sanctions against the Islamic republic, arguing that sanctions could provoke a regional crisis. 

Moscow also supplies Iran with sophisticated conventional weapons. In addition, Russia has sizeable economic interests in Iran in other spheres aside from military, so any international sanctions could hurt Russian companies working there. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments on Iran probably disappointed the Israeli delegation. Lavrov appeared to say that Iran's nuclear program is not a threat to peace and security in the region. 

"It is necessary to act on Iran, but that action should be in direct proportion to what is really happening," the RIA-Novosti Russian news agency quoted Lavrov as saying. "And what is really happening is what the" International Atomic Energy Agency "reports to us. And the IAEA is not reporting to us about the presence there of a threat to peace and security." 

Still, Russian leaders tried to convince the Israelis of their friendship. Olmert's visit coincided with the 15th anniversary of Israel's re-establishment of diplomatic ties with Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Putin said Israel-Russia ties had been "completely transformed" in recent years and now were based on a great degree of trust. 

Olmert, for his part, recalled Putin's promise during his visit to Israel last year that "Russia's relations in the Middle East will no longer be one-sided." 

Since the collapse of communism, Russia has failed to match the huge influence the Soviet Union once wielded in the Middle East, when it pursued a strongly pro-Arab position to counteract U.S. support for Israel. 

Yet Russia today increasingly is acting to counterbalance what it may see as the United States' pro-Israel tilt. Russia often seems to ignore or dismiss Israeli security concerns, but Olmert tried to play down the differences. 

Israel understands that Russia "has an independent policy in the region," he told reporters in Moscow. "Of course we are not always satisfied with this policy. We have our differences. I have said this openly to President Putin." 

During an Oct. 19 meeting with members of the Moscow Jewish community, Olmert said he has a positive feeling about Russian-Israeli relations. 

"At the meeting with the Russian president, I felt his friendly attitude toward Israel, and I'm convinced that our relations and his commitment to Israel's security are absolutely firm," Olmert said. "Our cooperation is developing in different fields and it influences all spheres of our life -- political, economical, scientific, technological, cultural and sports." 

(JTA correspondent Naomi Zubkova in Moscow contributed to this report.)

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YNetNews - 10.23.2006

Warmth in Moscow; reality in Iran

Prime Minister Olmert received a very welcoming reception from President Putin, but only on the surface

Op-Ed

By Ronny Sofer

After spending four hours with the Russian president, Ehud Olmert felt the warmth: "We have become significantly closer," he said on his return flight. But ambience is one thing while reality is another. 

Putin spoke warmly after hearing Olmert's request to minimize Russia's support for the Iranian nuclear project, to prevent transfer of Russian arms to Hizbullah and to stand up against the Hamas government. But the seemingly innocent words uttered by the Russian president were nothing but words. 

It was easy for Olmert to become confused after coming into the warm glow of the presidential office and out of the Moscow cold , particularly after a police escort blocked the entire city for the prime minister's entourage en route to the presidential suite at the Grand Marriot Hotel.

On the surface the reception seemed very welcoming, but only on the surface. Anyone with eyes in their head would understand that Moscow didn't turn into a lover of Zion this past week, and that Olmert's visit didn't put Jerusalem at the top of Russia's priorities.

Russia isn't bothering to hide the fact that it is 20 times larger than Israel. Vladimir Putin made it clear that he is the president of a kingdom and that he rules 142 million subjects. Therefore, it didn't occur to Putin to apologize for selling arms to Israel's enemies, including the Iranians and the Syrians. 

The Iranian nuclear project alone with its eight facilities, the largest at Busher, is earning more for Russia than Israel could ever purchase from Russia in the future. The two billion dollars a year business ties Israel has with Russia are negligible compared to the deals Russia has with the Arab world. 

Vlada, the name Russian cynics have given Putin, serves Russia's interests. Russia's path back to the golden era passes through Teheran and Damascus. The prime minister's office on Kaplan Street in Jerusalem may serve as the location for a polite courtesy call, no more. 

Does Russia want a nuclear Iran?

The Russians have some interesting arguments explaining why they should assist in developing nuclear technology in Iran rather than letting India or China do it, for example. 

Andrei Kokoshin, a veteran at the Duma (the lower house of parliament), was formerly in charge of Iran's nuclear project in the Russian government and served as deputy defense minister and secretary of the national security commission in Russia. 

Kadima party Knesset member Zeev Elkin asked him why Russia supports nuclear development in Iran. Kokoshin's answer caught him by surprise: "It's better for Russia to maintain a presence there. If Russia ceases its involvement, China and India will bring in their nuclear know-how and there will be much less control over them." 

How come? Asked the surprised Elkin. "It's very important for India and China to maintain low oil rates. If Russia takes its hands out of Iran's nuclear development, the Iranians will raise the price of oil in response. Bombay and Beijing are willing to pay Teheran with nuclear knowledge just to keep the costs of oil down. This way they will benefit twice – they will sell nuclear know-how and keep the cost of energy low." 

Despite this seemingly rational argument, Kokoshin assured his Israeli interlocutor that the Duma is concerned about the situation. "No one wants a nuclear bomb near his border, although the Iranian bomb will pose more of a threat to Washington and Jerusalem than to us." 

So how do we solve this predicament, asked Elkin. "The US must stop interfering in our affairs vis-à-vis Georgia and Ukraine, and we in turn shall maintain our presence in Teheran and prevent the Iranians from developing the bomb." Why didn't we think of this sooner? 

Russian Aliyah

"We love you and want you in Israel," the prime minister told the Jewish community in Moscow. But what Olmert heard wasn't optimistic: Some 800,000 Jews live there, about 100,000 of them in Moscow. Semyon Dovzhik, a single 34-year-old Aliyah emissary, said there is a high rate of assimilation among Jews in Russia. "There are more than 70 percent mixed marriages here. The birthrate in the community is very low: For every 14 deaths, one Jew is born," he noted. 

On the other hand, the figures of 3,000 who made Aliyah last year is encouraging. 

"Contrary to the past, Russian Jews don't escape to Israel, they choose to go there," says Dovzhik. "These are Jews from the medium to high socioeconomic strata, who have suddenly discovered Israel and care. 

Let's take, for example, a group of 10 Russian Jews in their 20s who renovated a kindergarten hit by a Katyusha rocket in the northern town of Shlomi in the recent war. Such a thing was unheard of among Russian Jews in the past. This involvement will ultimately bring them to Israel as well." 

Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski, who joined Olmert in Moscow, said that "the Jewish Agency's policies are very different than what they were in the past. We don't shun Jews who don't want to make Aliyah, that's the trick. We bring them closer to us and don't drive them away. We also help those who remain here to connect with their Judaism.

The prime minister, whose mother was born in Odessa, was visibly excited: "Who would have expected that I would ever come here as Israel's prime minister and speak openly with the Jewish people? Your home is in Israel." Now all he has to do is handle the budgetary issues, which he couldn't do when he sought to realize his predecessor Ariel Sharon's resolution in bringing the remaining Falash Mura to Israel from Ethiopia. 

The judo outfit

And on the sidelines of the Moscow visit, one of the most interesting stories revolved around the gift Olmert presented the Russian president. Olmert gave Putin, a judo enthusiast, a judo outfit with a black belt. The flags of Israel and Russia were sewn onto the outfit. 

The problem at the Prime Minister's Office was how to get Putin's measurements to avoid the embarrassment of a misfit. Officials at the PM's Office convened to tackle the problem. 

Finally, a young man called Arie Veron from the political department found the answer. He discovered an Internet site that posted the measurements of all world leaders. The site didn't disappoint them and Putin's size was found. The outfit, it turned out, fitted like a glove. 

Putin was very touched by the gift and told Olmert that his trainer is Jewish. Now PM's Office officials are waiting to see if Putin will in fact don the Israeli-Russian outfit at one of the upcoming judo competitions in which he is due to partake.


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Jerusalem Post - 10.19.2006

Analysis: Playing politics in Moscow

By Herb Keinon

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert waded deep into the divisive Russian political scene during his recent trip to Moscow, attending two different affairs sponsored by two different Jewish organizations supporting two different chief rabbis and funded by two different Jewish billionaires.

On Wednesday night he went to an event under the patronage of Arkadi Gaydamak at Moscow's central synagogue, and on Thursday he attended a similar affair sponsored by Lev Leviev.

Olmert's decision to attend events open to the wider Jewish community alongside school children and just plain folk is telling, especially in light of the fact that it has been years since an Israeli prime minister has gone to a community event at a synagogue during a visit to the United States, not just for big money men or lobbyists, but for members of the wider community.

It has been years since an Israeli premier, for instance, has - on a trip to the White House - attended an event at a synagogue in Silver Spring, Maryland, where an 8th grade Hebrew school kid could enthuse that he saw the Israeli PM in person.

So why in Russia? The answer, of course, has to do with Israeli politics.

It is not as if a visit to a Chabad community center in Moscow is going to win Olmert votes among Israel's Russian-speaking population. Most Russian immigrants will not be overly impressed that Olmert hummed along with a Russian Jewish boys choir singing a song from the traditional liturgy translated into Russian.

But this will win him points with Leviev, and Olmert's attendance at the function the night before will win him points with Gaydamak. And these two men, with their not-insubstantial means, are people that politicians - all politicians - like to get close to.

Olmert was effusive in his praise for Leviev Thursday. "This is my third visit to this important center in Moscow," he said, adding that he had seen other such centers in other locales in far-flung areas of Russia. "All were funded by one man, one man who sees these centers as his mission in this world. A special person: Lev Leviev."

He continued to sing Leviev's praises, devoting a good portion of his short speech to the Jewish community - a speech in which he called on the Jews in Russia, despite the comfort they are currently enjoying there, to make aliya - to complimenting the Chabad-affiliated Russian-speaking tycoon.

But what's in it for Leviev and Gaydamak? These men don't need Olmert to raise their stature among the local Jewish community; their status is already quite high as a result of their substantial charitable activities.

Rather, according to officials in the local Jewish community, their ability to get Olmert to come to their events raises their standing in the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And an increase of stature in Putin's eyes is important for any self-respecting billionaire with big business interests, or big plans, in Russia.

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Ha'aretz - 10.19.2006

Olmert in Moscow / Sowing the seeds of a preemptive strike

Op-Ed

By Yossi Melman 

This is the first time that an Israeli prime minister has talked openly about the fact that it is necessary to create conditions that "cause Iran to be afraid that something they do not want to happen to them will happen to them." This is the most far-reaching threat uttered by an Israeli leader in an effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. No less important, these statements were made on Russian soil. 

For nearly a decade, Israel viewed Russia as the main source from which Iran acquired nuclear technology, know-how and materials for its nuclear program - through which it aspired to develop nuclear weapons. Israel, along with the United States, tried to convince Moscow to prevent the trickle of nuclear technology to Iran. Former U.S. vice president Al Gore headed these efforts, and set up a coordination mechanism with then-Russian prime minister Victor Chernomyrdin. The heads of the Mossad and Israel's National Security Agency and Atomic Energy Committee have traveled abroad since 1995 to convince their counterparts that Russian support for Iran's nuclear efforts was problematic. 

At the center of Israeli claims was the fact that Russia was constructing an electrical reactor in Iran, near Bushehr, for the production of electricity. Based on the knowledge Iran would acquire from this reactor, it would develop a secret nuclear program. The Russians always countered with a challenge: Show us proof that the Iranians are developing nuclear weapons with our help. Such proof was never produced, because it was argued that secret intelligence gathering would be exposed. In fact, neither Israel nor the U.S. had any real proof. 

But now it seems that Israel has altered its approach. This stems from two reasons. The first is that Russia had undertaken its own efforts in recent years to delay support of the Bushehr reactor's construction. The fact is that the reactor is still not operational, and if it does begin operations next year, that will come following a three- to four-year delay. In other words, Russia made delaying efforts, and found excuses allowing it not to transfer to Iran enriched uranium (low grade), which it has committed to provide as fuel for the Bushehr reactor. 

The second reason is that it turns out that the main source from which Iran acquired nuclear technology was not Russia but Pakistan. The father of the Pakistani bomb, Dr. Abdul Kader Khan, and his smuggling ring, has been responsible for transfering to Iran the blueprints for constructing the centrifuges necessary for enriching uranium, and for developing the necessary dense material for nuclear weapons. This was carried out contrary to intelligence assessments in the U.S., Israel and Europe. 

This insight is what lies behind the change in Israel's policy. Not only is the conclusion that Russia is not the problem, but Moscow is now considered an essential component in international efforts to formulate a consensus that efficient sanctions must be imposed on Tehran. Sanctions of that sort will make Iran "feel scared." 

But above all, Olmert sought in his current visit to inform the Russians that if the sanctions do not help and deter Iran from achieving its aims, Israel will not be able to reconcile with a nuclear Iran led by a president who declares the need to wipe Israel off the face of the map. In other words, the prime minister has sown the seeds of the possibility that Israel may be forced to carry out a preemptive strike against Iran if the international community does not succeed in its diplomatic efforts, and if no international force is used against Iran.


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Reuters - 10.18.2006

Israel's Olmert raises Iran in Kremlin talks

By Corinne Heller

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had raised concerns about Iran's nuclear program in talks on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Olmert said he also talked with Putin about the need for an embargo on weapons sales to Iran and Syria. Israeli security officials say Russian-made arms supplied to Syria were used by the Hezbollah militia in this summer's Lebanon war.

"Putin and I discussed many issues of strategic importance, foremost the Iranian nuclear threat," Olmert, on his first foreign trip since the Lebanon war, told reporters after meeting Putin in the Kremlin.

"We are at an historical crossroads and we do not have the privilege of ignoring the real intention of Iran, whose leadership has called publicly and declaratively for Israel's destruction," he told reporters.

"I come out of this meeting with a feeling that Putin understands the upcoming danger from Iran, if it indeed succeeds in fulfilling its purpose of arming itself with a nuclear weapon."

Tehran denies it is seeking an atomic bomb and says its nuclear program is for power generation. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear bombs but has never confirmed this.

Russia, a veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council, says it does not want Iran to have nuclear arms but it has so far resisted U.S. efforts to adopt sanctions, saying it is not proven Iran has military intentions.

LAVROV SEES NO THREAT

Just hours before Putin met Olmert, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that Moscow did not see an immediate threat coming from Iran.

"It is necessary to act on Iran but that action should be in direct proportion to what is really happening," RIA news agency quoted him as saying.

"And what is really happening is what the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports to us. And the IAEA is not reporting to us about the presence there of a threat to peace and security," Lavrov added.

On Lebanon, Olmert said he had emphasized to Putin "the importance of implementing a weapons embargo on countries that pass weapons to Hezbollah and on the Syrian and Iranian involvement in Lebanon."

Russian officials have rejected Israeli calls for a halt to arms exports to Tehran and Damascus, including a contract to supply the Iranian military with Tor-1M anti-aircraft missile systems. Moscow says the weapons are purely defensive.

In opening remarks at the meeting, Putin said relations between Israel and Russia had been "completely transformed" over the past few years and were now based on a greater degree of mutual trust.

Olmert's two-day visit to Russia coincides with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Russia's predecessor, the Soviet Union, severed ties with Israel in 1967.

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Jerusalem Post - 10.16.2006

Olmert: 'Not thinking in terms of sanctions' against Iran

By Herb Keinon

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is "not thinking in terms of sanctions" [against Iran] going into his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the premier told reporters shortly before landing in Moscow Tuesday evening. 

Instead, Olmert will discuss with Putin how to prevent Teheran from arming itself with nuclear weapons, something the Russians did not want to see, the prime minister said. 

Among the concerns that Olmert will surely raise during his visit is what is viewed in Jerusalem as Moscow's all-too-forgiving attitude toward Teheran's nuclear march, and the fact that state-of-the-art Russian weaponry landed in Hizbullah's hands and was used to fight the IDF. 

The Russians realize a nuclear Iran is a potential threat to Israel, Olmert said, but the issue of sanctions would probably not be discussed. 

Olmert said he did not know of any leakage of nuclear technology from Russia to Iran. 

Regarding arms sales, Olmert said president Vladimir Putin assured him earlier this year that Russia would not do anything to endanger Israel's security. 

Putin said arms sold this year to Syria included only defensive weapons and were not a cause for concern for Israel. 

Olmert is scheduled to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before meeting with Putin on Wednesday. 

He is then set to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov before participating in a ceremony to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Moscow Central Synagogue on Wednesday evening. 

On Thursday, the prime minister is due to hold talks with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He will then meet leaders of the Russian Jewish Federation and is expected to meet some bereaved parents of Russian-born IDF soldiers. 

It is Olmert's first visit to Moscow as prime minister, and the first by an Israeli prime minister since Ariel Sharon was there in 2003. 

Olmert has met Putin before, spending 45 minutes with him in the car from Ben-Gurion Airport to Jerusalem when Putin visited here in April 2005. He also spoke to him at least three times in the last few months. This visit is timed to mark 15 years since the re-establishment of ties between Moscow and Jerusalem. 

Regarding the arms sales, Jerusalem feels that this is an area where the Russians did indeed listen to what Israel had to say, took it seriously and have started to take action. 

Israel made this a major bilateral issue immediately after the war in Lebanon, providing the Russians with information that arms they sold to Syria were used by Hizbullah against Israel. Soon after the war, a high-level Israeli delegation went to Moscow to discuss the issue. The delegation complained that Iran and Syria passed Russian-made Fagot and Kornet antitank missiles on to Hizbullah. These missiles were responsible for killing many of the 118 soldiers who fell in the war. 

There is currently concern in the defense establishment that some of the Kornet missiles have ended up in Gaza as well. While Israel had incontrovertible proof that these missiles were in Hizbullah's hands, and then took this proof to the Russians, it is not clear whether similar proof exists regarding Gaza, or whether Olmert will bring this up in the Kremlin if such concrete proof doesn't exist. 

While officials in Jerusalem admitted it was unrealistic to expect Russia to stop selling arms to Syria, an account worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Moscow, they said there was satisfaction in Jerusalem that Moscow took the issue seriously and was dealing with it. 

On Wednesday, in what some officials believed was a good-will gesture to Olmert in advance of his visit, the Russians published a new, stricter set of rules governing arms sales. And earlier in the month, in a move that was also connected in Jerusalem to the arms issue, Moscow removed a senior official in charge of arms exports. 

Officials in Jerusalem said Israel wasn't blaming the Russians, but rather asking that not only should stricter guidelines be drawn up governing arms sales, but they should also be implemented. 

Olmert is expected to make the Iranian issue his number one priority while in Russia, not out of a belief that the visit will convince the Russians to finally back strong UN sanctions against Iran, but rather because it is important to keep the issue on the front burner. 

Israel, officials in Jerusalem realize, has little leverage over Moscow on the issue, but wants to keep pounding away as much as possible at the dangers a nuclear Iran would pose to Israel, the region and Russia as well, in the hope that at some point the message will sink in. 

The Palestinian issue is also expected to loom large during the discussions, although Moscow is not expected to push any major new initiative. 

While Russia is widely considered in Jerusalem to be the weakest link in the Quartet when it comes to keeping the international community's three benchmarks in place before legitimizing Hamas, officials in Jerusalem have noted that Russia did not totally disregard Israel's protests over their invitation to a high-level Hamas delegation, headed by Khaled Mashaal, to visit Moscow in March. 

Since that meeting, Moscow has not held any other high-level talks with Hamas, and when Lavrov was in Israel and the Palestinian Authority in September, he pointedly refrained from meeting any Hamas officials. 

One diplomatic official said prime ministerial visits to Moscow were important to keep Moscow inside the loop, and that three years was too long an interval between such visits. 

Israel's policy toward Russia has been described as "containment through engagement." With Russia able to cause a great deal of mischief for Israel in the region through arms sales and its votes at the United Nations Security Council, Israel's policy - despite its disagreements with Moscow on a number of issues - is to keep Moscow "inside the tent," because of the belief that if they were "pushed outside," the Russians could do a great deal of damage to Israel's vital interests.

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RIA Novosti - 10.16.2006

Moscow-Jerusalem: fifteen years of cooperation

Op-Ed

By Yevgeny Satanovsky
President of the Institute of the Middle East

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) — This year marks the 15th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Russia and Israel. The history of bilateral cooperation was anything but simple. 

The period of struggle for the formation of the Jewish state and its recognition by the UN (which would not have taken place without the support of the Soviet Union) lasted for almost two decades. The subsequent rupture of diplomatic relations was followed by almost a quarter century confrontation, Soviet support for Israel's enemies, and unofficial contacts with its leaders. In the last 15 years the two countries have maintained friendly diplomatic and economic relations, while informal contacts have become truly unprecedented. Israeli presidents and prime ministers, not to mention politicians and officials of lower rank, have become frequent guests in Russia. Russian presidents paid official visits to Israel. There is hardly anyone in the Russian elite who has not been to Israel. 

More than a million new Russian-speaking Israelis are the first massive aliyah which has not lost ties with the country of exodus. It is hard to say how many Israeli businessmen, free lancers, and managers live in Russia now. Estimates fluctuate from several dozen thousand to a hundred thousand. Such a scale of exchanges is a sign of sound interstate relations, and an earnest of their durability, all the more so since in case of Russia it is based on the institutions of the Diaspora. The dynamics of their development is comparable only with that in the United States. 

Every year thousands of children visit Russian-based Israeli schools, which are funded by the World ORT. Joint programs of Jewish University in Jerusalem and the Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS) at Moscow State University, and St. Petersburg State University have allowed hundreds of students to receive professional education in the field of Jewish studies. Graduates of the IAAS Center for Jewish Studies and Jewish Civilization, which was transformed into Russia's first department of Jewish studies in 2006, have formed a new generation of Russian diplomats specializing in the Middle East. The level of their education is equal to that of their American and British colleagues. Today, Moscow and Jerusalem are the intellectual centers of the Jewish world. 

Israeli-Russian diplomatic relations were restored when the Soviet period was drawing to a close. But the historic changes which Russia has been through in the last 15 years have had almost no effect on their development. Our relations have developed steadily regardless of the situation at home and abroad. The adherence of the Russian leadership to the principles of free enterprise and emigration, and freedom of religious and public activities have spared them many problems of the past periods. 

Needless to say, Russian-Israeli relations are not perfectly smooth. We have disputed issues, but this is true of ties between any countries. However, the level of disagreements cannot even compare with what it was before. Moreover, Russia and Israel are strategic allies in the struggle against political Islamism and international terrorism, which is its striking power. 

Inter-religious contacts have occupied a special place in the dialogue between Moscow and Jerusalem. Israeli leaders respected the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) even when our countries did not have diplomatic relations. This experience proved to be useful when the ROC leaders found themselves among the first echelon of the Russian elite, all the more so since the new government policy made it possible for the Russian Orthodox communities at home and abroad to abandon their contradictions. In turn, the development of synagogue life in Russia, and the contacts of local rabbis with the Israeli Supreme Rabbinate have enabled the religious leaders of the two countries to establish bilateral contacts. 

The revision of the history of World War II, and the appearance of the notion of the Holocaust in Russian historiography, which was not recognized in the Soviet times, has played a significant role in the development of Russian-Israeli relations. The Russian Jewish Congress built a memorial synagogue in Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow as part of the Memorial of the Great Patriotic War. The synagogue has a memorial museum of Holocaust victims and Jewish historic legacy. Russia pays homage to millions of victims of the Catastrophe of the European Jewry, half of whom were killed on Soviet territory. Boris Yeltsin attended the opening ceremony of the Moscow Memorial, and Vladimir Putin visited the Israeli Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem. These facts have become a historic breakthrough in interstate relations. 

The economy is probably the only sphere, where the two countries have not achieved great success. Economic ties are important, but remain secondary to human contacts. At the same time, the economic potential of Russian-Israeli cooperation is very high. It is enough to mention the military-technical sphere, high technologies, and supply of energy carriers. Lack of progress in economic cooperation is largely due to direct pressure from the United States, a strategic ally of Israel, which is watching jealously its cooperation with potential American rivals like Russia. 

On the eve of the jubilee we should pay tribute to those who have made a contribution to the promotion of dialogue. The history of Russian-Israeli relations is inseparable from the history of both countries' ambassadors. Russia was represented in Israel by Alexander Bovin, a prominent journalist, expert on international affairs, and a Soviet high society figure; Mikhail Bogdanov (whose professional contribution is particularly great), and Gennady Tarasov, prominent diplomats and Arabists. 

Israel sent twice as many ambassadors to Russia. The brilliant professional Aryeh Levin, who carried the burden of restoring diplomatic relations and the Israeli Embassy in Moscow, passed on the baton to political appointees - Gen. Bar-Lev, the founder of the famous defense line on the Sinai peninsular in the 1970s; and Prof. Aliza Shenhar, a folklore scholar. Highly professional Zvi Magen was succeeded by career diplomats Natan Meron and Arkady Mil-Man. Now Anna Azari has been appointed to this position, and Moscow is looking forward to her arrival. Her previous post was as Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine. 

Some representatives of Israeli departments have also made a big contribution to the consolidation of bilateral relations. They include former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, former "Nativ" head Ya'acov Kedmi, and his deputy Robert Singer, rector of Jewish University in Jerusalem Menachem Ben-Sasson, and his successor Prof. Haim Rabinovich, Knesset deputies Yury Stern and Zeev Elkin, ministers Natan Sharansky, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, and Avigdor Liberman, and businessmen Lev Levayev and Arkady Gaidamak. 

These people have laid the foundations of Russian-Israeli cooperation on the Israeli side, just as their Russian colleagues have done it on their side. The two countries have developed normal ties, and this is the main difference from the past. Our cooperation rests on the same principles as Israel's relations with the U.S., Canada, and EU countries, which is the main achievement of the past 15 years.

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