The brief rebellion of Wagner Force commander Yevgeny Prigozhin gave the world a sense of the end of battle of the war in Ukraine. This glimpse into the future should be another wake-up call for Israel to correct its erroneous policy on war.
Israel's position is mistaken, first and foremost, morally and historically. As Jews, we should have been the first to speak out against an unjustified war. Especially when the State of Israel often uses moral arguments to justify policies that the world often does not understand.
Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus as part of the agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin // Credit: Reuters
Second, realpolitik. Within weeks of the start of the war, it was clear that Putin was much weaker, and that the West was much stronger than first thought. Since Israel associates itself with the West, it should have aligned itself with it. Anyone with eyes in his head knew and knows that the day after the war the question will be asked: "Where were you at the moment of truth?" At the moment, there will be no good answer.
Third, to paraphrase Henry Kissinger's famous statement, one could say that Israel has no foreign policy, only security considerations. In a normal situation, security is a continuation of the policy. In Israel, for some reason, they work in reverse: foreign policy has become hostage to the anxieties of the defense establishment.
In his name, both Bennett and Netanyahu missed the hour and did not place Israel in the right international camp. Exaggerated fears, that the air force would find it difficult to operate in Syria, led to Israel's failure to come out against the war.
Turn the steering wheel in the right direction
And it's not just the establishment that got it wrong. Even in the public discourse, there were almost no positions demanding that governments correct their ways. Tamir Heiman, head of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), was a challenger in the Arava demanding an explicit condemnation of Russia. Heyman, who coordinated Israel's security activity in Syria and met Putin himself, also made it clear that any operational problem there in Syria can be overcome. If you want. But they didn't want to.
We were left on the wrong side of history (archive), photo: AFP
And so we were left on the wrong side of history. While we have reaped achievements – such as opening the Russian diplomatic branch in Jerusalem and not closing the agency's Moscow offices – policy must still think about the long term, not just the immediate one.
The only one in the Israeli system who can be credited with a more correct position was Yair Lapid, who as foreign minister condemned Russia. His replacement, Eli Cohen, also pulled the blanket slightly toward Ukraine when he traveled to Kyiv and made sure that Israeli promises to Zelensky were kept. But unlike all Western leaders, neither Bennett nor Netanyahu visited the Ukrainian capital – even when it was clear that the new reality required moving the dials.
Israel lost points in Western capitals because of its strange position. Even our greatest supporters, especially in the United States, cannot comprehend the paralysis and terror that have befallen brave Israel.
On the dramatic Shabbat, one could feel for a moment the blush that would rise in the cheeks of our leaders when asked why they were silent, and therefore the "return to normal" should be used to shift the steering wheel to the right place. Better to give the world a little less reason to be against us.
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