Vladimir Putin
"As American officials happily point out, [Russia] contributes barely 1% of foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority. When Mr Putin last year proposed hosting a Middle East peace conference in Moscow, Israel ignored him. Yet Russian diplomacy has used its clout to great advantage elsewhere in the region."Vladimir Putin’s Russia is less of a player than it was. It no longer has a network of Soviet client states. It does not baldly challenge Western interests by backing revolutionary forces and flexing its own military might. But Mr Putin has exploited the decline in American prestige, brought about by, among other things, the Iraqi morass and the poisonous issue of Israel and Palestine.
In some ways, last summer’s fight between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbullah echoed the cold war: a clash between proxy forces that tested armaments and tactics. While Israel’s American-supplied gadgetry was far more lethal, Hizbullah’s Russian weapons were effective too. Its anti-tank missiles knocked out scores of Israel’s armoured vehicles.
Confronted with evidence of unauthorised “leakage” of arms to Hizbullah, Russia is said to have quietly apologised to Israel and promised to tighten controls. Given that Israel is home to 1m Russian-speakers, the Kremlin is keen to keep on friendly terms with the Jewish state. Read more>>