Putin's Russia Is No Friend Of Israel

Putin's totalitarian regime in Russia has recently announced that it will sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, which as we should all know is the greatest threat to the continuing existence of the State of Israel.  Actually, Putin had planned on carrying out this sale years ago, but supposedly bowed to American and Israeli pressure not to do so, though he will deny this of course.  So why go through with the sale now?  Well, let's just say that Putin is a lot bolder than he was in years past.  And why shouldn't he be?  In the past year, he's walked into and taken over Crimea as easily as Hitler took over Austria, plus he's invaded and conquered a large chunk of eastern Ukraine.  The West's response?  A lot of hot air and some sanctions here and there. 

It's also no coincidence that Russia's announcement of the missile sale came on the heels of U.S. President Barack Obama's latest Neville Chamberlain impression, as he declared to the world that a framework agreement over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program had been reached.  "Peace in our time?"  I think not - at least not when our time includes dictators like Vladimir Putin and Iran's ayatollahs, who go together like a horse and carriage.  In fact, Iran wouldn't be anywhere close to the atomic bomb had it not been for the Russian expertise and ingenuity that built much of the Islamic Republic's nuclear infrastructure.

To make matters worse, Iran isn't the only mortal enemy of Israel that is the beneficiary of Putin's foreign policy.  Just ask Syria's dictator, Bashar Al-Assad.  He might be dead by now if not for the weapons supplied to him by Putin.  Some of these weapons often make it into the hands of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Islamist terrorist group, based in Lebanon and sworn to Israel's destruction. 

Yet, despite all the help that Putin's Russia gives Israel's enemies, Israel's relations with Russia aren't all that bad.  In fact, the current Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is quite chummy with the Russian dictator.  Me thinks they like to reminisce about their old KGB days.  Personally, I think that Israel should stop trying to be Putin's friend and start fighting for the principles of freedom and democracy upon which it was founded.  So when ideas float around about doing something to tick Putin off, like arming the Ukrainians to help them fight against the expanding Russian occupation of their country, I couldn't be happier.  At the same time, however, I am also aware of the fact that Israel still needs to tread carefully so as not to jeopardize the lives of thousands of Jews still living in Russia and the former Soviet republics, because they will most definitely become a target for Putin should relations with Israel deteriorate, as I think they will.  In light of this, I believe that it would be in Israel's best interest to do what it can to expedite the departure of Jews from the former Soviet states, especially Russia itself.  The less Jews there are within Putin's reach, the less leverage Putin will have in his dealings with Israel.