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For Israel, it used to be possible to think that it could handle Egypt, the PLO or Syria, but the Russians are a different matter

For the first time in 60 years, they have the Russians just across the border. For Israel, it used to be possible to think that it could handle Egypt, the PLO or Syria, but the Russians are a different matter and that would be handled by the United States. But now it looks as if the United States isn’t in this thing. Israel has to deal directly with Russia and you see Netanyahu going to Moscow. That’s a big change in the region.

Q: To what extent does Russia’s presence affect Israel’s ability to take care of its interests and project power in the Middle East?

A: It clearly has an impact because Israel has regularly intervened in Syria to prevent arms transfers from Iran to Hezbollah. Israel’s ability to do that is significantly affected by the assets that Russia is putting into Syria. Russia’s presence is a new complication. But it’s larger than that because the Russians have been out of the Middle East for 50 years since Sadat threw them out of Egypt. If anybody asks what has happened under Obama that really hurts Israeli security — it isn’t just Iran — it’s this. Now, Israelis have to ask, “Is Putin satisfied? Is this a one-time intervention?” Because there is a long-term arms supply relationship between Russia and Assad. Or, “Is this the beginning of a larger Russian effort in the Middle East?”

Q: How do you think the meeting that Netanyahu had with Putin this week affected Israel’s position?

A: It probably helped. Putin has not taken a particularly anti-Israel position. He recognizes that there are a million former Russians living in Israel. If Israel wants to interdict an arms transfer to Hezbollah, their immediate question is, “Would Israeli planes be attacked by Russian-manned anti-air sites or would Russian planes go up to down Israeli planes?” I assume that is exactly what Netanyahu wanted to discuss with Putin, so it was smart for him to go there.