Putin: Russia can replace Austria in UN Golan force
Putin: Russia can replace Austria in UN Golan force | JPost | Israel News.
MOSCOW – Russia is ready to replace peacekeepers from Austria in the Golan Heights, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, after Vienna said it would recall its troops from a UN monitoring force due to worsening fighting in Syria.
Austria, whose peacekeepers account for about 380 of the 1,000-strong UN force observing a four-decade-old ceasefire between Syria and Israel, said it would pull out after intense clashes between Syrian government forces and rebels on the border.
“Given the complicated situation in the Golan Heights, we could replace the leaving Austrian contingent in this region on the border between Israeli troops and the Syrian army,” Putin said at a televised meeting with Russian military officers.
“But this will happen, of course, only if the regional powers show interest, and if the UN secretary general asks us to do so,” he said.
Russia, a long-time ally and arms supplier to Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been trying along with Western powers to bring the warring sides in Syria together into talks on a solution to the more than two-year-old conflict.
The UN Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the Austrian withdrawal after anti-Assad rebels briefly seized the crossing between Israel and Syria, sending UN staff scurrying to bunkers before Syrian soldiers managed to push them back.
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WarSclerotic 
June 7, 2013 at 5:50 PM
Of course Putin can replace the Austrian soldiers with his boys, good soviet soldiers, to be deployed on the Israeli border, ready for threating the security of the Israeli state. This is the wet dream of the Russians, to have troops in place, ready for action; and where can be a better place than the Golan Heights? Putin must be at least a foul to think that somebody will even consider that. But what are we demanding from this man? To be wise, not to broke porcelain when entering into a porcelain shop? We cannot demand that from a man who announced his divorce on radio, leaving his long trusted wife for a 24 years old gymnast, while he is on his 60ies. This is the man who is supporting Assad, Hezbollah and Iran. This is the man who’s policy is undermining the entire middle east stability.
June 7, 2013 at 6:12 PM
Luis…
Your reaction was mine at first.
On further consideration, it occurred to me that stationing Russian soldiers to enforce the peace on the Syria/Israel border might just be the best thing we could have ever hoped for.
They will in effect be taking responsibility to ensure that the weapons they provided Assad will NOT be used against Israel.
As long as Assad is in power, I can think of no other force that could more effectively control the situation on the Golan. If it were US forces, there would be non-stop violence.as much against the US as Israel.
Russia is not an enemy of Israel. Not at all. They have some interests that conflict with ours and some that are the same as ours.
I think having them engaged on our border would only make our interests intersect more. Would Hiz still try to open another front on the Golan against the Russians? When the Russian forces needed help, where do you think they would turn?
I’m sure the US is against Russian involvement in Syria. Israel is not the US. Best for us is good relations on all sides.
Finally, Russian forces on the Golan would have no effect whatsoever on Israel’s ability to preempt Iran’s nukes.
So the net result would be a lowering of danger for Israel in the North while leaving the door open for the operation we may need to execute.
What looks terrible may in fact be superb!
June 7, 2013 at 6:18 PM
You got that right .
June 7, 2013 at 6:19 PM
Dont be stupid it is your worst nightmare and will lead tp the destruction of Israel which is Russia’s plan
June 7, 2013 at 5:55 PM
This is the man who’s policy is undermining the entire middle east stability.
You mean obamadrama ??
June 8, 2013 at 11:05 AM
I am responding to Joseph with this one. The Israeli reaction among the high officers in the IDF was made public yesterday evening, in the broadly seen Israeli TV Friday evening news. Nobody here wants even to consider this possibility, to allow Russian ”peacekeepers” to be deployed on the Israeli border, in Golan. Such a thing simply wont be. It will limited the Israeli freedom of action over Syria and Lebanon in such a manner that, from a strategic point of view, the IDF will be ”suffocated” by this Russian bear hug. I arrived in Israel from Romania. Our experience with the Russians on the continent is clear, solid and very bad. Every Romanian knows that the Russians love to arrive in ”visit” but forget to leave. We don’t need those Russians here, at our borders. Let them ”keep the peace” in other places. Far, far away…
June 8, 2013 at 11:52 AM
Luis…
I guess it’s my “eternal optimist” syndrome again. I always try to find the good side to any catastrophe.
In any case, the UN ain’t interested so it isn’t going to happen.
Still, I’m not convinced that they would constrain our ability to act more than our enemies. Furthermore, I’m not convinced that Netanyahu and Putin are strategically at odds in Syria or anywhere else for that matter.
Only the inner circle know the “behind the headlines” Israel/Russian relationship. We don’t.
June 8, 2013 at 12:18 PM
I respect your point of view; however, regarding the Russians one cannot be too careful.
In the ’73 war (The Yom Kippur War ) soviet pilots fought against Israel.
In the ’67 war ( The Six Days War ), the Russians had an intervention task force put in place to invade Haifa by sea, if the Israelis wont cease the fire.
There were threats and plans at Stavka in certain periods of time during the Israeli – Arab conflict, to invade Israel by the soviet forces. In turn, Israel developed – among its Jericho missiles – one missile category that has a 5000 km range, potentially reaching Moscow.
When Putin came in power, he tried to shape a new apparently form for the Russian wolf. Sadly, this wolf remained the same.
Only with a sheep coat on him.
June 8, 2013 at 1:36 PM
Luis….
History is a great lesson. The Soviet Union, after insuring the creation of the state through it’s (anti-UK) UN vote, was always against Israel.
However, it is important to bear in mind that the same motivations that inspire the lefties today were what inspired the USSR’s policies.
In a word, Anti-Americanism.
Israel has been considered a “running dog” of US imperialism from the start. Never mind that Eisenhower kicked us and the imperialist Brits and French out of Sinai in ’56.
Russia today is not the USSR. They are more akin to “robber barons” than to Marxists. What motivates them is CASH. Cold hard cash. Period.
In my view, there are simply no “ideological” barriers to Israel and Russia cooperating for mutual interests.
The US may have problems with this, but like I said, Israel is not the US.
Within the limits imposed on us by the US (as long as we remain beholden to them) we should not be slaves to the past and should think about our future.
After two world wars, who would have thought that Germany would become the darling of Europe?
Situations change. We need to always keep our eyes open and adapt to those changes.
June 8, 2013 at 11:18 AM
Putin offers Russian troops in lieu of Austrian Golan peacekeepers. UN: Thank you but no
http://www.debka.com/article/23029/Putin-offers-Russian-troops-in-lieu-of-Austrian-Golan-peacekeepers-UN-Thank-you-but-no-
June 8, 2013 at 2:01 PM
To Joseph : I deeply liked the examples you brought and I always enjoy a good lesson of history; however, the only single problem that I have with your assertion is this: All is good and the principles you used to make the point are viable and hold the water. In the case of the Russians there is an exception, though: They didn’t forget anything, nor did they learn something – Napoleon said that and the Russians didn’t do anything in the field to change that.
It will take the Russians one hundred years to convince us that they turned normal – but we heavily doubt they will succeed.
A superpower that did build nuclear reactors in the most reactionary, rogue state in the world and is backing up the Hezbollah and Assad, a non soviet Russia who is arming our enemies with the most sophisticated anti aerial missiles, this Russia cannot have our trust, nor they will get our respect. As long as their policies in the field wont change, for us, as it was for Napoleon, the Russians will remain the same Scythian tribes which invades Europe and remained there for more than 40 years(1945-1989).
June 8, 2013 at 3:04 PM
Luis…
Be aware that you have shifted your argument from Russian ideology to Russian character.
You have personal experience with Russia that I, thankfully lack. As such I listen to you more than I would to others on the subject.
Your analysis of the Russian character is purely historically based, as it should be.
Santayana’s famous aphorism; “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” is useful only in the context of the countervailing aphorism; “Those who cannot forget the past will never escape its grip.”
Israel is faced with a changing world. The US has been on a downward slide for the last two decades. We need to deal with a potential future where the US is no longer the be all and end all of our foriegn relations.
Clearly, Netanyahu is thinking along these lines with his outreach to China. I believe it may well be underlying his more than courtious relationship with Putin.
This was one of the reasons that I saw another side to having Russian soldiers protecting the Israeli border against terrorists or Syrian adventurism.
Clearly, from what you say, the high ups disagree with me. They know better.
But I feel deeply that Israel should exploit every chance it has to increase its contact and cooperation with all the great nations of the world. Including Russia.
Ronald Reagan used the phrase, “Trust but verify” regarding the START nuclear arms treaty with the Soviet Union.
I see no reason Israel should not adopt the same approach.
June 8, 2013 at 4:08 PM
One’s character can have a huge impact on his ideology if that man is in the politics business. I know the Russians and the Romanians know them. The Czechs know the Russians, too. The Hungarians know them. The people of Poland knew the Russians, too well I should say. The Russia of our days helped Iran to build an atomic arsenal while the Shiite country threatened Israel with annihilation and genocide. And what Russia did when they heard that? Precisely nothing. This Russia, which put an atomic bomb in the hands of the most dangerous country in the region, is much more dangerous for Israel than the old USSR. Only because Obama, a man who is uneducated in the international politics, has put himself far away from Israel and the region, only because of that, we don’t have to run like idiots into the big hug of the Russian bear and I hope nobody in the Israeli high ranks are considering this. Russia is taking care to put itself on the ”dark side” and is doing that with great success up to those moments, as we write here. The reason for this situation, when no contra balance exists to cool down the Russians, the real reason is the void created by the Americans- read Obama – when they run away from here. But this is not an excuse – sorry for repeating myself – for us to fall in love with Putin.
Even though the Russians are heavily supported Assad, nothing is gone be decided militarily, on a big strategic scale. And that is the greatest luck for Israel, the Shiite – Sunni war which is developing now in our region. This war will lead to the collapse of the Russians positions in Syria together with the fiasco of their Middle East politics.
June 8, 2013 at 5:44 PM
“The Kremlin said Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Syria during a telephone conversation on Friday. No details were given.”
June 8, 2013 at 5:48 PM
May be Putin asked Bibi for some advice regarding his divorce and how to make it discrete, after it was been announced on the Russian TV.
June 8, 2013 at 5:52 PM
Or maybe they agreed on what was best for both countries in Syria. Who the %^& knows?