What did Israeli diplomats do in Moscow? Unusually, two deputy directors general of the Foreign Ministry visited Russia about a week ago.
On May 3, Deputy Director General for Europe-Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Simona Halperin, and Deputy Director General for Strategic Affairs Yehoshua Zarka visited the Russian capital. The two met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, who is in charge of the Middle East and North Africa. As far as is known, this is the first visit by Israeli diplomats at such a senior level to the Russian capital since the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (apart from former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's attempt to mediate between the sides in March last year).
The day after the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced its existence. Jerusalem did not report it. According to the Russian statement, the sides held "a comprehensive discussion on current regional issues that are on the table of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly. Special attention was paid to the situation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, with an emphasis on the necessity of reviving all tracks of an arrangement in the Middle East. The parties also exchanged views on regular events relating to Middle East issues, including the usual resolutions in the framework of the General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council."
Jerusalem confirmed the meeting, and the Foreign Ministry said it dealt with strategic issues, apparently referring to Iran's nuclear program. It should be noted that the very arrival of senior Israeli representatives in Moscow is an unusual event, since Western diplomats boycott Russia and avoid visiting it, due to the war.
It also turns out that this was not the only meeting between the sides. Six days later, on May 9 and 10, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov and Special Representative of Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Safronkov met with representatives of Israel's Foreign Ministry and National Security Council. Once again, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem or the Prime Minister's Office chose to keep a low profile – unlike the Russian embassy, which posted a tweet about the meeting accompanied by a photo of its participants to the official Twitter account.
Mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine, Photo: AP
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Israel has not joined international sanctions, but has sent humanitarian aid to Kyiv and an anti-missile warning system. After closer military relations between Russia and Iran, Ukrainian President Zelensky said Jerusalem had also shared intelligence. And according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after also began sharing intelligence in recent months.
"It turns out that while Russia is isolated all over the world except Iran, China and some African countries, Israel is holding official meetings," Anna Zharova, founder of Israeli Friends of Ukraine, wrote on her Facebook page. "Especially 'handsome' in light of the rocket fire on Israel by Putin's regime friends."
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