Moscow and Jerusalem: a troubled 75-year relationship

ABSTRACT

Relations between Moscow and Jerusalem have seen numerous ups and downs since the birth of Israel in 1948. Two main issues have dominated the relationship. The first is security, with the Soviet Union, then the Russian Federation providing diplomatic support and military aid to Israel’s enemies, especially, in recent years, to Iran and Syria. The second issue is the freedom of Jewish emigration to Israel. Finally, since the advent of Vladimir Putin, Israel has been very much the junior partner in the relationship giving Russia much more than it has received in return.

KEYWORDS:

• Israel
• Russia
• Soviet Union
• Russian Jewry
• Vladimir Putin
• Benjamin Netanyahu
• Joseph Stalin
• Leonid Brezhnev
• Mikhail Gorbachev
• Syria
• PLO
• Egypt
• Iran

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Freedman, Soviet Jewry in the 1980s, 61–96.

2. Interview with David Ben-Gurion, Sde Boker, Israel, July 18, 1971.

3. Lumer, Lenin on the Jewish Question; Baron, The Russian Jew, 205.

4. Central Zionist Archives (CZA), S/25/486 & S/25/9299; Gorodetsky, The Maisky Diaries, 329.

5. CZA, S/25/9299; Freedman, “The Partition of Palestine,” 204–6; Ro’i, Soviet Decision-making.

6. Herzog, The Arab-Israeli Wars, 17–108.

7. Riasanovsky & Steinberg, A History of Russia, 477–84.

8. Gilboa, The Black Years of Soviet Jewry; Rapoport, Stalin’s War against the Jews.

9. Herzog, The Arab-Israeli Wars, 112.

10. Ro’í, The Jewish Movement; Freedman, Soviet Jewry in the 1980s, 61–96.

11. Korey, “Brezhnev and Soviet Anti-Semitism.”

12. Herzog, The Arab-Israeli War, 214–19.

13. Freedman, Soviet Jewry in the Decisive Decade, 38–67.

14. Ibid., 46; Beckerman, When They Come For Us.

15. Herzog, The Arab-Israeli Wars, 278–9.

16. See note 13 above.

17. Freedman, Moscow and the Middle East, 132–44.

18. Ibid., 29.

19. Ibid., 29, 65.

20. Author interview, Russian Embassy, Tel-Aviv, Israel, July 2, 1992.

21. Freedman, “Israel and Russia,” 128–9.

22. Ibid., 129.

23. Freedman, “Russian Policy toward the Middle East,” 55.

24. Freedman, “Israel and Russia,” 132.

25. Ibid., 135.

26. Freedman, “Can Russia be a Partner?,”125–9.

27. Ibid., 140–1.

28. Freedman, “Russia and the Arab Spring,” 252–3.

29. Magen, “Russia and Israel,” 266–8.

30. Ibid., 264.

31. Freedman, Israel under Netanyahu, 294.

32. Borshchevskaya, Putin’s War in Syria, 136.

33. Freedman, “The Erosion of US-Israeli Relations,” 257.

34. Harel, “What Gulf States Need Urgently Against Iran.”

35. Samuels, “US Growing Alarm”; Freedman, “Israel’s Tightrope.”

36. Amanpour interview with Bennett. Kershner, “Israel Says Putin Apologized.”

37. Kershner, “Israel Says Putin Apologized.”

38. Lieber, “Russia Aims to Shut Jewish Agency”; Gross, “Israeli Government Intervenes.” By January 2023, some 44,000 Russian Jews had left for Israel (Times of Israel, “Russian Jewish Population Down”).

39. Nissenbaum, “Iran Sets Plan for Drone Factory in Russia.”

40. Cloud, “Tehran Blames Israel For Attack.”

41. Ibid.

42. Haaretz, “Iran and Russia Activate Plan.”

43. Algemeiner Staff, “Israel Will Provide Ukraine.”

44. Author interview, Russian Embassy, Tel-Aviv, Israel, July 2, 1992.

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Robert O. Freedman

Robert O. Freedman is visiting professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University and a past president of the Association for Israel Studies.