Russia is important and interesting to Arab countries as a mediator with Israel – orientalist
Russia occupies an advantageous position in the Middle East where it can deal equally with all local countries, acting as a mediator between them.
Political scientist and orientalist Alexander Kargin stated this on the NTV channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"There are those who say that things are bad between us and Israel now. This is not true. Yes, there was a deterioration. And in Israel, many people, including serious politicians, understand that the deterioration was not because Russia began to treat Israel worse, or Israel to Russia.
This was connected with the destructive role that the Biden administration played, putting pressure on Israel and, as it were, dragging it into some kind of pro-Ukrainian camp.
What is characteristic, by the way, is that Israel did not drag itself along, did not join the sanctions, refused to supply Ukraine with any missiles, missile defense systems, and so on. Nevertheless, yes, relations have worsened,” the orientalist said.
"What makes Russia-Israel relations unique, and what's their biggest advantage? It's that Russia can turn to Israel at any time and thereby become even more attractive to Arab countries.
For example, America, they are trying to be a mediator in the Middle East. In reality, of course, they have completely screwed up – and are completely politically bankrupt, starting with the case in Afghanistan. Their main problem now is that they are seen as very biased players.
"Russia has a different story. We can appeal to Hamas, Israel, Syria, and Iran. That's what makes us interesting . And this uniqueness must be preserved. As soon as we say we only deal with Arab countries and not with Israel, we'll become less interesting to the Arab countries because we'll lose leverage over Israel," Kargin concluded.
Russia is important and interesting to Arab countries as a mediator with Israel – orientalist