Israel must stay out of Ukraine crisis
Israel must stay out of Ukraine crisis – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.
Op-ed: Our relationship with Russia is not perfect, but Putin combats anti-Semitism, has kept his promise not to complete delivery of anti-aircraft systems to Iran and Syria.
Elyakim Haetzni
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In the cold war between the West and Russia, there is also a battle for global public opinion, an issue that has an impact – mainly from a moral perspective – on the Jewish state’s stance.
Now is the time to plead with our decision-makers to resist temptation and remain completely neutral at all costs. There are hundreds of thousands of Jews living both in Russia and in Ukraine, and each community sides with its own country. Only the independent Israel is in charge of what is called “the Jewish people,” and there is no black and white here.
Putin‘s claims on the issue have yet to be countered. For example, he says that when Crimea was handed over to Ukraine, “the residents were not asked and were dragged about like a sack of potatoes. They went to sleep in one country, and woke up in another.” He has also questioned why Ukraine was allowed to secede from the Soviet Union, but Crimea was not allowed to secede from Ukraine. After all, there is no disputing the fact that that is what the majority in Crimea had wanted.
Putin has also raised difficulties on the issue of Kosovo – indisputably a sovereign Serbian territory conquered by NATO armies, which later ma de a Western-sponsored declaration of sovereignty. “Why are the Russians banned from doing what the West is allowed to do?” Putin has asked.
Granted, there was a reason for the NATO invasion – the expulsion of thousands of Kosovo Muslims by the Serbs – but Putin is arguing that the coup in Kiev, the strings of which were largely pulled by the West, ousted a legally elected ruler in order to “get NATO to station its forces on the border.”
Putin stated that, “Crimea is part of Russia’s national ethos. It was and has remained in our hearts. Many places in it are full of Russian history, in addition to being a strategic territory. In the people’s hearts and spirit, Crimea is an inseparable part of Russia.”
We will still remind him of these words, although instead of 250 years of Russian history in Crimea, we have 3,000 years of Jewish history in Jerusalem, next to the Western Wall beside which Putin, on his second visit to Israel, warmly wished a Russian immigrant that he would get to see the construction of the Temple.
The comparison to Hitler’s annexation moves is unfounded. Crimea was conquered by Catherine the Great, and was henceforth part of Russia until 1954, when Khrushchev “handed it over” for administration by Ukraine, as part of an internal arrangement within the Soviet Union. Austria, on the other hand, was never part of Germany, and the German speakers in Sudetenland never belonged to Germany.
Nor are Putin and his regime suspected of an ideology of expansion to “conquer the world.” They are acting out of a position of weakness and in defense of a country that has already lost the Baltic states, not to mention the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland to NATO. In Georgia too, Russia only used force after Georgia fired first and invaded South Ossetia.
Today, unlike during the Cold War, Russia is not hostile towards Israel. On the contrary. Putin is vigorously combating anti-Semitism, he is not withholding any gestures of affinity and friendship toward his country’s Jews, and is popular among many of his Jewish subjects. Putin’s Passover greeting to the Jewish people included warm words that we never heard from either the tsars nor the Bolsheviks.
He was one of the first visitors to the new Jewish museum in Moscow, the biggest in the world, and donated to the museum – as a public symbol – one month’s salary. He bought an apartment in Tel Aviv for his Jewish German teacher, an old woman whom he encountered years later in Israel.
Immediately after his reelection, Putin found a reason to visit Israel again, and until now he has kept his promise to our prime ministers and has not completed the delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Iran and Syria.
Of crouse, none of this is anywhere near our special relationship with the US, and our relationship with Russia is not perfect. And yet, we must not get dragged into this cold war.
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WarSclerotic 
March 27, 2014 at 3:44 PM
We agree with this we also think that NATO and the usa should stay out of iran and syria,thats not our problem and attacking them and providing logistics and armaments is a waste of missiles guns and bullets that we need for NATO members and this is about to become policy due to statements like above ,What the rest of Europe and America is thinking when it reads journalism like this.Israel is not an allie israel is a user and taker fair weather friend only interested in itself,,the proof is in the writing,This is what people are saying in Europe ans the USA,The sad thing is there right<if your leaders can stand up for the powers that have bankrolled and protected you then your not worthy of us and on your own see how long you last,One phrase comes to mind appeasing cowards only good for hitting rag heads
March 27, 2014 at 4:17 PM
Say you disagree with the writer of this piece, then.
Don’t assume that all agree with his point of view.
March 27, 2014 at 7:24 PM
its not aimed at you and you know it JW,i have areal point,its aimed at the Russian jews who are Russians at heart not jews and intend to subvert your country and are doing a great job of it
March 27, 2014 at 7:55 PM
http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/War-of-words-between-Ukrainian-and-Russian-Jews-heats-up-346721
March 27, 2014 at 4:54 PM
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
March 27, 2014 at 6:38 PM
NATO may soon be put to the test. Will they align and defend against ‘Pooty Poot”? They better. That’s our (my) last line of defense for many countries.
March 27, 2014 at 7:29 PM
NATO is being put to the test and i can tell you whatever Obama is saying his actions are speaking much louder in covert preparation and action,Russia will if it does not stop and retreat be extinct and i mean extinct all of them,Putin has been given a very long rope but that rope is tightly tied at one end and has a unbreakable noose at the other,
March 27, 2014 at 7:41 PM
Obama ain’t going to do sh_t…which is probably good because he has screwed up everything else he has done foreign policy related. He’s out shopping for a new ‘reset button’ to have Kerry take to Russia.
March 27, 2014 at 7:58 PM
Obama is not leading on this it is completely down to the uk the UK runs nato not obama and obama will do what he is ordered to so stick to what you know about and dont say anything
March 28, 2014 at 12:57 AM
Man a man we are even not allowed to have an opinion from the master Justice for Israel himself !
March 28, 2014 at 3:00 PM
It’s always a good thing to have a new commenter drop in from time to time Justice. Getting as many folks as possible into the discussion goes a long way to understanding what we are faced with today. Such a thing should be encouraged, and I for one, look forward to having them in the conversation more often.
March 28, 2014 at 4:10 PM
Justice you are one angry know-it-all. I value your contributions and opinion…why not reciprocate
I don’t claim to be an expert, although I do try to spend a few hours each day keeping up on what’s going on. I always start here.
March 28, 2014 at 4:39 PM
Nate…
You are right.
I’m with LS. Glad for your input.
Justice, watch it…
I iced your “poop” comment already. Don’t go down the insult road again.
JW
JW
March 27, 2014 at 9:26 PM
The author is a bit off in asserting that NATO is somehow behind Ukrainian revolution. It didn’t take a genius to see that any destabilization in Ukraine will lead to Russia’s territorial expansion. American reaction to the events is pathetic.
One of the most troublesome developments is the triumph of Ukraine’s ultra-nationalism and emergence of Lviv as European Nazi capital. And that’s in the context of Much of the content turning towards radical nationalism.
March 28, 2014 at 3:19 PM
there not nazies nothing like like them,thats just russian propaganda the russians are the Nazis putins own party has a swastika as an emblem,he is guarded by a neo Nazi bike gang go and actually read up on it,They are Nationalist true,Just like the Scottish independence party are they Nazis no
March 28, 2014 at 3:54 PM
You cant argue with the facts,
http://reason.com/archives/2014/03/23/russia-where-the-real-facists-are
http://americablog.com/2014/03/jews-brought-holocaust-says-russian-state-tv-presenter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Americablog+%28AMERICAblog+News+%29
http://us.cnn.com/2014/03/28/opinion/motyl-ukraine-military-buildup/index.html
March 28, 2014 at 5:14 PM
Svoboda is a Nazi party, and so is Pravy Sektor. Much of Ukrainian population believes OUN-UPA were WW2 hero and that St. George’s ribbon given to Soviet WW2 vets is a Nazi symbol. The world upside down.