Ehud Olmert Resigns via Moscow
// Israel’s Prime Minister to once again thrash out arms supplies to Iran and Syria
Trying to persuade Moscow not to arm Teheran and Damascus
Yesterday Israeli prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Moscow for an official visit. Despite his close resignation and quitting politics, which made experts doubt the visit’s expediency, Prime Minister Olmert believes it relevant to discuss with the Russian leadership arms supplies to Iran and Syria, which gives rise to the Israeli party’s concerns. Trying to persuade Moscow to give up cooperation with “irresponsible elements”, Israel’s Prime Minister will promise to settle the matter of returning the territory of the Russian town church in Jerusalem to Russia.
Ahead of his visit to Moscow, where he will hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, outgoing Prime Minister Olmert delivered a speech at a government meeting covering in detail the objectives of his visit to Russia. To avoid any ambiguity in connection with his visit prior to the formation of a new Cabinet headed by Tzipi Livni, Ehud Olmert, who had already filed his resignation, stated that his actions were coordinated with Ms Livni. “Chairman of the ruling Kadima party gave me the necessary authority for my visit to Russia in order to discuss the issues our side is especially concerned with,” Ehud Olmert explained.
In his planned agenda, Ehud Olmert is going to highlight the following problems: Russian arms supplies to Iran and the development of the Iranian nuclear program, and Russia’s military and technical cooperation with the Middle East. “We will certainly discuss the situation over the countries that surround Israel, arms supplies to different irresponsible elements, whose activity worries us very much,” said Ehud Olmert. “It need be remembered that Russia is a world superpower, which has economic and military might and plays a very important role in international relations,” Prime Minister Olmert summed it up adding that he sees the aim of his visit in preserving the continuity of Israel’s policy in the Russian direction.
“It is crucial that Israel should have good relations with Russia, which are not to suffer because of a possible deterioration of the relations between Moscow and Washington,” a source of Kommersant with Israeli’s Foreign Ministry explained. According to the source, given its own security interests in the region, “Israel cannot allow itself to follow the U.S. line and is ready to pursue its own policy to maintain its relations with Russia”. Giving an example of a stance like that, the source of Kommersant remembered the recent cancellation of the visa regime with Russia Israel carried out regardless of Washington’s pressure.
Regarding the current agenda’s significance, the source of Kommersant called Ehud Olmert’s visit his swan song. A number of experts in Jerusalem doubted that outgoing Prime Minister Olmert, rather than new Prime Minister Livni, will conduct negotiations about the sensitive issues to Israel.
At the same time Israel is getting more concerned over Russia’s military and technical cooperation with Iran and Syria provided the new wave of rumors about the U.S. preparing a “non-contact blow” against Iran, where Israel’s Air Force may also take part. A high-ranking official with the Israeli General Staff told Kommersant that according to intelligence data, Iran will produce its first nuclear warhead in 2010-2012, and the situation becomes really grave.
In this connection, Israel is afraid that Russia might supply Iran with anti-aircraft warfare, which is the most effective means of countering an attack. In 2006 Iran received 29 Russian Tor-M1 and Tor-M1T surface-to-air missile systems, and in 2007 – 1,200 missiles for them. The contract to worry Israel the most – the one concerning supplies of five S-300PMU-1 complexes has been initialed, but further talks about it have been suspended.
Israel is also afraid that Syria might hand over Russian anti-aircraft warfare to Iran. The latest big contract was concluded for supplies of 36 surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon systems Pantsir-S1 to Syria in 2008-2010. According to Jane` Defense Weekly, Syria may sell several of its Pantsir-S1 systems to Iran (however, Damascus and Teheran deny this information).
A few weeks ago the issue of Russian arms supplies to the Middle East was discussed in Moscow. At that time Aaron Abramovich, the Director General of the Chancellery of the Israeli Foreign Ministry arrived in Moscow for a visit. During his meeting with Russian Foreign office Chief Sergey Lavrov Mr Abramovich expressed his concerns over the fact that the escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington because of the developments in Georgia might result in more arms supplies to the middle East. In response, according to the Haaretz newspaper, Mr Lavrov assured Mr Abramovich that the relations between Moscow and Washington won’t affect negatively the situation in the Middle East.
Ehud Olmert will also raise the issue of returning the rights to the Sergiyevskoye town church in Jerusalem to Moscow. It need be reminded that in 1860 the family of the Russian tsar purchased land in Jerusalem, which has been under Israel’s jurisdiction since 1948 (today it is known as the Russian town church). Ahead of his visit to Moscow Prime Minister Olmert got the sanction of the Cabinet to return the land to the Russian Federation.
However, there are those who oppose the future deal with the Russian town church, for example “Legal Forum For the Land of Israel”. This organization demanded that Prime Minister Olmert should call off the government meeting devoted to the matter. “It is evident that the Israeli government sanctioned the returning of the Sergiyevskoye town church to Russia deliberately ahead of the outgoing Prime Minister’s visit,” head of the Legal Forum lawyer Ariel Bulstein believes. According to him, the government violated the Israeli legislation. First, because for the time being the government is interim, and thus is eligible to consider current issues only. Second, “the government had no authority to take decisions, because the case of returning the Sergiyevskoye town church is considered by the Supreme Court, which hasn’t arrived at a verdict yet”. According to Mr Bulstein, he filed another petition to the Supreme Court requiring that it should render the government’s decision against the law.
Meanwhile the future of the Russian town church has become the subject of mockery in the Israeli media, which regard it as the outgoing prime Minister’s attempt to cajole Moscow so that it would refuse to sell weaponry to Iran and Syria. Yesterday Israeli newspapers published articles with sarcastic headlines like “Russian real estate as antidote against Syrian missiles”.
Nevertheless, even opposition leaders share the government’s opinion over returning the Russian town church to Moscow. “I think it inadmissible to procrastinate with handing over the Russian town church. We have arrived at a corresponding decision at the times of my premiership,” stated yesterday ex-Prime Minister of Israel and Chairman of the Likud Party Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Mr Netanyahu’s Advisor Diana Libster, he is willing to resolve the matter of the Russian town church as soon as he comes to power unless the previous government does it.
So, the Israeli establishment sticks to a single stance in its relations with Russia.
Lev Kagan, Jerusalem; Sergey Strokan, Ivan Konovalov, Pavel Korobov
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 07, 2008
|
