The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

30 Years of the Disintegration of the Soviet Union: The Misses, the Embarrassments and the Potential Israel today

2021-09-02T12:28:06.494Z


The disintegration of the Soviet Union 30 years ago opened up unprecedented political, economic and cultural possibilities for the countries that went to independence • Israel recognized the potential, and with some of them formed ties for both sides • But there were also misses and embarrassments, as with Muslim countries in the Asian bloc, or In the case of the dictatorial rule in Belarus • From Russia and Ukraine to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan - we set out to check the level of relations


The end of August 1991 is remembered in the world, and especially in Europe, for the fall of the Soviet leadership's remnants against Mikhail Gorbachev's openness policy.

The initiators of the move hoped to repeal the reforms introduced under the perestroika policy and return to a totalitarian regime, but the coup failed and the result returned to them like a boomerang.

The national republics that made up the USSR declared one by one their exit from the common framework. The more agile (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Moldova) declared their independence immediately, others followed suit in the following weeks, and the remaining were "taken out" independently. When the USSR officially ceased to exist at the end of December 1991.

Ironically, the renewal of diplomatic relations with Israel was one of the last official actions of the USSR. Gorbachev still managed to appoint an ambassador to Israel, but by the time he arrived from Moscow the embassy had already become Russia's embassy, ​​not the USSR.


The collapse of the Soviet empire presented Israel with many opportunities on a historical scale. On the ruins of one hostile power stood 15 different countries - with each of them it was possible to build friendly relations, and even more. Thirty years have passed, and the balance of achievements and failures is ambiguous. Israel has reaped quite a bit of fruit, and at the same time missed quite a few opportunities.

Eli Velek, Israel's first ambassador to independent Belarus and an expert on Eastern European countries, mentions how far we have come compared to the humble beginning.

"Three decades ago, Israel faced the onslaught of independent states and an urgent need to decide how to build relations with this new world. "And the embassy in Riga also 'covered' relations with Lithuania and Estonia. In addition, there was no one to staff the embassies, and there was certainly no clear purpose as to what we were looking for."

This week's celebrations in Kiev // Photo: Reuters,

Such a goal was soon found. Encouraging aliyah became a major goal, and in the post-Soviet republics, Israeli cultural centers were opened that spread the gospel of aliyah and Hebrew studies. "As an ambassador, I initiated and signed an agreement for cultural cooperation with this country, and as part of it, cultural centers were established and began to flourish," explains Valk. "Still, it is easier to define what the interest of the new countries was in establishing relations with Israel: they sought to learn and adopt Israeli experience in many areas. As a result, many agreements were signed with Belarus, but most remained on paper."


In the case of Belarus, there is a convincing explanation for the non-realization of the potential for cooperation. Under President Lukashenko's rule this country gave up the development of a modern and open market economy, and in recent years has experienced a return to tyranny in the full sense of the word. However, Israel refrains from taking a firm stand and condemning the local regime.

"Things got to the point of an embarrassing situation, in which one of Israel's former ambassadors in Minsk treated Lukashenko with contempt for the opposition, and provoked astonishment and anger among his opponents," says Valk.

"Apparently, this is an expression of Israel's interests consistent to keep the local Jewish community and the possibility of immigration from there. And immigration has indeed reached and continues to reach - if in 1993 came from Belarus, 2,300 people in 1996. The number nearly doubled, and the flow has not stopped since.


" At the beginning of the century The embassy in Minsk was closed for budgetary reasons, but living needs, led by immigration, led to its reopening nine months later.

"Nevertheless, I would deviate from the disregard and silence of criticism and look for an intermediate path: it is possible to express dissatisfaction with what is happening in Belarus without resorting to a confrontation that will harm us."

A warm relationship.

Tbilisi, Georgia // Photo: Alon Melamed,

The economy is stronger than any incident

Against this background, political relations with the Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) present a very positive situation. "From the beginning, there were no problems between Israel and Latvia, with the possible exception of the issue of pensions for Latvian immigrants in Israel, which has not yet been fully resolved," explains Valk. "We have a fruitful political dialogue with the Baltic states at all levels, and reciprocal visits do not cease. In UN votes they act as disciplined members of the European Union, and do not always vote with us, but this is the result of friction between Jerusalem and Brussels, not between Jerusalem and Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn. Could we get them to vote with us? In some polls, maybe yes, but in general, the maximum has been achieved in this path. "

Because of the modest dimensions of the Baltic states, strong economic cooperation is not broad.

According to Velek, Israel would not be harmed by learning from the Estonian experience of total - and successful - computerization of public administration and government institutions, which made the interface between the authorities and the citizen the most efficient, accessible and accessible in the world.

In the past, the Estonian ambassador offered his mediation on the matter, but his proposal did not mature into an agreement or a formal working framework.

Israel has warm relations with Moldova, another modest country that was born on the ruins of the USSR, but it is difficult to expect tangible dividends from them, beyond the pleasant warmth. At the same time, we will remember that voting in international forums has every important voice, and the political activity of Jerusalem has more than once won us a favorable vote of Chisinau.

A fruitful political discourse.

Riga, Latvia // Photo: Latvian Institute,

Between two enemies

And what about Ukraine, which is trying to follow in the footsteps of the Baltic countries and join the Western countries and the European Union?

"The system of ties we have developed with Ukraine actually reflects the realization of expectations," Valk says.

Most of the Israeli achievement is reflected in the ability to walk between the drops, especially after the rift between the Russians and the Ukrainians in 2014. Israel captured a completely unique niche and was able to establish friendly and close relations with the two opposing sides.

Ukraine's economic potential is enormous, and the entry into force of a free trade agreement with it at the beginning of the year instills hope that Israel will be able to enjoy it quite a bit.

A reduction in levies and tariffs will inevitably lead to increased trade and add another dimension to the influx of many Israelis to Kiev and other large cities across Ukraine.

Israeli businessmen have long since discovered the benefits of the Ukrainian economy.

Israeli technology companies employ battalions of Ukrainian programmers, and entire apartment buildings in Kiev are purchased by small investors from Israel.

This week, most European leaders attended a celebratory ceremony in Kiev to mark the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence. Israel, in a puzzling move, chose not to send a representative on its behalf. But even if the political wisdom that established the basis of relations with Ukraine is replaced by opacity and misunderstanding - which characterized Israel's absence from the ceremony - the economic aspect is not likely to be harmed. The Ukrainians are building a real market economy, and the "disappearing hand" of the market, as is well known, does not receive instructions from above.


In Russia, Ukraine's big neighbor, things are completely different: almost everything is decided from above, and an Israeli businessman's chances of cooperating with his Russian counterpart are directly affected by the level of warmth in relations between Jerusalem and Moscow. On this front, too, Israel has come a long way, and even after 30 years, it is hard not to be moved by the spectacle of an Israeli flag flying in the streets of the "Empire of Evil" of yesteryear. The next target is a free trade area agreement,However, negotiations with Russia (and the rest of the Eurasian Economic Union) have not yet matured.


The future of relations with Russia is more difficult to predict.

Due to the nature of its centralized regime, too much depends on the identity of the president and the general climate that will prevail between him and the rest of the world.

In view of this uniqueness, so far Israel has known how to get the most out of the Russian channel, sometimes in very difficult conditions.

While the Russians do not have free meals, it is still better to eat with them than to confront, especially if these conflicts are not ours.

Thanks to Israel's prudent conduct and the wisdom to conduct itself between two giants, Russia has not turned against us, and this is already a worthy achievement in a historical perspective.

How good it would be if the model of good and independent relations with two conflicting countries at the same time could be copied, from the Russian-Ukrainian example of the Caucasus Mountains, where the old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan took place.

Israel would like good relations with both of them, but the reality is that there is a choice and the tendency is towards the Azeris.

Unlike the reluctant Armenians, Azerbaijan under the Aliyev dynasty extended a hand to the Jewish state.

Still in the fence gone.

Kyrgyzstan // Photo: Michal Yaakov Yitzhaki,

Azerbaijan and Armenia have problematic friendships from the Israeli point of view (Turkey is a close ally of Baku, and Iran is a friend of Yerevan), but in the Azeri case even Erdogan failed to sabotage friendships with Jerusalem.

Israel and Azerbaijan have developed close ties in the fields of energy and security, and the benefits for each of them are unquestionable.

Despite this, the opportunity should not be missed to establish meaningful ties with Armenia.

After years of deliberation, the Armenians opened their embassy in Israel, but with the outbreak of a major round of fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the spread of news of the supply of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan, the Armenians hurried back to their new ambassador.

Goodwill on both sides served as a powerful fuel in blossoming Israel's relations with Georgia, although the geopolitical elements also played a role.

A pro-Western orientation of Tbilisi joined the Israeli advantage, and the result exceeded all expectations.

Israel is perceived in this Caucasian country as a real power and develops ventures in many industries.

In addition, sympathy and appreciation did not remain at the level of leaders alone, forming friendships of truth between the two peoples.

Thanks to the Jewish channel

The Asian Islamic countries of the former USSR are often far from public attention in Israel and around the world. Accordingly, most of the Israeli missions in the post-Soviet world are located there. "These countries are rich in natural resources, including oil and gas and other valuable natural resources." "Economically," explains Dr. Avinoam Idan, a geo-strategy expert from the University of Haifa who served in the region during the disintegration of the USSR and the establishment of new states.

The big ones - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan - have not been completely sidelined, but what has been achieved in relations with them does not come close to what could have been achieved, especially in the fields of economics, investment and trade. Israel had the opportunity to get closer to these countries in their first steps, in the virgin phase, when competition was small. Unfortunately, this opportunity has not been taken, and it will never return. The more confined sisters of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Central Asia - Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan - remain a major mystery to most Israelis.


According to Dr. Idan, the window of opportunity that opened up for Israel was rare: to enter an area that had been closed to it since the beginning of the 20th century, since the Bolshevik revolution and the establishment of the Soviet empire that ruled the region from Moscow. Asia over the years since their inception. Israeli foreign policy has placed this area of ​​low priority and ignored the fact that these countries, despite being Muslim, were led by secular regimes and Islam was separated from the state. "It was possible to strengthen Israel's ties with the circle of Islamic countries, which have a legacy of friendship and coexistence with the Jewish minority that existed until his immigration to Israel."

The rise of the Taliban to nearby Afghanistan and the fear that Islamic extremism will sooner or later slide into Central Asian republics may put these countries in the spotlight, and perhaps Jerusalem's decision-makers will pay attention to them as well.


All the achievements in the former Soviet Union would not have been possible without the Jews born there. The great aliyah enriched Israel with a unique and unprecedented resource - more than a million Israelis who speak the languages ​​of the post-Soviet countries, understand the customs and practices common in them and are equipped with valuable connections. Public diplomacy has developed - informal friendships and more formal frameworks, such as twin-city alliances, have tightened relations and raised them to new heights.

Thanks to them, the wheels of economic cooperation were driven and high rates were reached. According to Velek, in Latvia alone, the Israelis who immigrated from the USSR set up no less than 168 joint ventures with the locals, and the hand is still outstretched. Could more have been done? Certainly, but that does not negate the good that has been achieved. 

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-09-02

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-14T05:12:57.410Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.