Israel losing patience with Moscow

A part of Russia's Black Sea fleet in port

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Israel's policy has been to take a soft line with Moscow, agreeing to many of its requests, in efforts to persuade the Russians not to provide the Jewish state's neighbor, Syria, with arms or to help with Iran's Bushehr nuclear project, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Israel also had sought to placate Russia by halting its experts' advisory work in Georgia, because of the military conflict between Russia and Georgia with the goal of protecting a growing Jewish population in Russia, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The accommodating position, however, soon may be a former policy because of Russia's plans to base its naval fleet in Syria and its construction of spy stations along the border with Israel.

Moscow has insisted that any weapons it sells to Syria and Iran are defensive. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow is supplying the Syrians only with "defensive weapons which are not breaking the regional balance of power."

But Israel may be hardening its position due to what Israeli diplomats see as a failure to achieve their goals in the face of Russia reasserting its power, especially in the Middle East.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has warned that sending new weapons to Syria "would endanger peace in the world, not only in the Middle East."

A senior foreign ministry official said Russia's "forceful return on the international stage doesn't guarantee in any way it will have a constructive role in the future of the Middle East."

Russia and Israel had been developing a closeness in culture and tourism in recent years, mostly because of a large influx of Jewish émigrés from the former Soviet Union who grew nostalgic for Russia once in Israel.

The relations had been improving steadily since the fall of the Soviet Union, even though Tel Aviv has opposed many of Moscow's diplomatic efforts that are at variance with Israel. For example, Israel opposes Moscow's desire to talk to Hamas, the radical Palestinian group now in control of the Gaza Strip.

Israel also had responded to demands by Moscow to withhold military assistance to Georgia. Israel had provided an estimated $200 million in military assistance and had provided some 1000 trainers for Georgia's military.

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