BRICS and Israel’s ongoing energy supplies
by Michael Karadjis in Australia on July 9, 2024
An excerpt:
Where does Israel-Russia collaboration stand at present?
Of course, there ought to be nothing surprising about Russia supplying, and facilitating the supply of, oil to Israel, given the long-term close relationship between the two countries. During Israel’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’ Gaza blitzkrieg in 2014, which killed 2500 Palestinians, Putin declared “I support the struggle of Israel,” while Israel refused to join its western allies in condemning the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, abstaining in the UN and rejecting sanctions.
Following the onset of the Syrian uprising against Assad since 2011, Israel continually stated its preference for Russia’s ally Assad to prevail against his opponents; Israeli leaders expressed appreciation of the Assad dynasty maintaining quiet on the Golan for 40 years; the Syrian opposition (which is also dedicated to recovering the Golan) never asked for Israeli support and Israel never offered it; and in 2018, Israel actively facilitated Assad’s reconquest of the south, alongside Trump and in coordination with Putin. Israel later stepped up attacks on Iranian and Hezbollah forces, which had helped rescue Assad, after Assad had reconquered much of the country, making their aid less essential, but Israel had welcomed the onset of Russian terror bombing to save the regime in 2015, hoping for a Russian-dominated rather than Iranian-dominated regime. Putin and Netanyahu then met more than any other two leaders over the next half-decade, Russian-controlled air defences in Syria allowing these Israeli attacks on Iranian assets. Under Netanyahu, Israel authorized the ‘Cellebrite’ company “to sell its mobile phone hacking device to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, which serves President Putin as a key tool of internal repression and political persecution in the country.” Netanyahu even produced a massive billboard showing himself with Putin for the 2019 elections: [shown in the below post].
It was hardly surprising that Netanyahu’s equally ultra-rightist successor, and former ally, then prime minister Naftali Bennett, was the first ‘world leader’ to make a high level visit to Moscow to meet Putin after his invasion of Ukraine. Bennett’s first statement following Russia’s invasion merely affirmed Ukraine’s right to sovereignty, but made no mention of Russia. Following US pressure, foreign minister and ‘moderate’ Zionist Yair Lapid issued the official, half-hearted condemnation. Bennett then issued a demand that his ministers say nothing; rejected Ukraine’s calls for arms, blocked any attempt by third parties to send Israeli-made arms to Ukraine, and blocked the US from providing Israeli ‘iron dome’ missile shield technology to Ukraine. Despite two and a half years of pressure from Israel’s main ally, the US, Israel has still not sent a gun to Ukraine. Not long before October 7, Russia announced the opening of its consular offices in West Jerusalem, which it had recognised as Israel’s capital several years earlier, despite that city’s illegal incorporation of East Jerusalem.
Following the onset of the Gaza genocide in October 2023 however, these powerful Russian-Israeli relations began to fray. The above demonstrates that this was not because of any problem with Israel as such, but rather was related to Russian-American rivalry. For nearly two years, the US, for its own imperial reasons, had led support for Ukraine’s legitimate struggle for self-determination against Russia’s illegal and barbaric war of aggression. Now it was Russia’s chance to turn the tables, criticising the US for its 100 percent support for Israel’s absolutely apocalyptic actions, showcasing Russia’s more “balanced” view of the Mideast crisis. While Putin’s target is the US rather than Israel as such, this discourse by definition means criticism of Israel, resulting in damage to Israeli-Russian relations.
While much analysis suggests this is due to the growing relationship between Russia and Iran (eg with Iranian provision of killer-drones for Moscow’s war in Ukraine), in reality Russia (and China) merely place themselves in the exact ‘Arab mainstream’ on these issues alongside their BRICS allies Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE etc – recognition of Israel, calls for ‘two-state solution’, supporting UN ceasefire resolutions, condemnation of the October 7 attack, demanding the unconditional release of all Israeli hostages, strong support for the collaborationist Palestinian Authority, refusal to join South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel and so on. Russia’s mild change of stance has not led to even one Israeli warplane being shot down by Russian-controlled air defence while attacking pro-Iran targets in Syria. Meanwhile, in contrast to the active Israel-Lebanon border, the Syria-Israel Golan demarcation line “remains conspicuously calm,” the Syrian regime having instructed its forces in the Golan “not to engage in any hostilities, including firing bullets or shells toward Israel.” To keep it that way, Russia has beefed up its forces along the Golan occupation line to ensure no stray Palestinian or Iran-backed forces cause any trouble.
Of course, the shallowness of Russia’s public criticism of Israel can be gleaned from some of the more serious Russian commentary, such as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s December 28 interview, in which he directly compared Russia’s and Israel’s campaigns in Ukraine and Gaza by using Russia’s Orwellian terms to describe its own invasion: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Hamas must be destroyed as a whole and as a military force. It sounds like demilitarisation. He also said that extremism must be eliminated in Gaza. It sounds like denazification.” He then went on to commend Netanyahu for not criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In this light, Russia’s provision and facilitation of a major part of Israel’s oil and coal supplies should not be any surprise, but in case anyone were taken in by its newly critical position towards Israel, these material facts are a reminder of reality.
https://theirantiimperialismandours.com ... -supplies/
BRICS and Israel’s ongoing energy supplies
Re: BRICS and Israel’s ongoing energy supplies
Frank, thanks for posting this fascinating article by Michael Karadjis. I missed it before, but it makes fascinating reading today, given the recent BRICs summit in Russia. The article is quite long. I didn't read every word, but got the gist of it, which is contained in the final paragraph, which I copy here:
"... there are no geopolitical ‘camps’, ‘blocs’ or ‘axes’, as mainstream media and popular geopolitics writers, on both the right and left, are so fond of. Rather, all we have is global capitalism, the pigsty of global profit-making, where at times, all may be against all in their rivalry, with no relevance of any imaginary ‘camps’, and at other times, all are in it together."
Karadjis provides statistics to show that leading BRICs members, while criticizing Israel in words, are supplying Israel with the oil and coal it needs to prop up its economy, to keep it running during wartime. Russia is providing oil while Israel refrains from criticizing Russia on Ukraine. India provides oil and in return Israel provides drones to India. Azerbaijan is a major provider of oil, and in exchange Israel provides arms to Azerbaijan as it resists Russian and Iranian encroachments. Brazil and China are also implicated in Israel's energy economy. I was especially interested to read about Israel's peaceful and supportive relationship with the Assad regime in Syria, and of Russia-Iran competition in Syria. Russian air defense systems supplied to Syria have been quiet when Israeli planes attack Iranian forces in Syria. Of course, at other times, Iran and Russia cooperate, and Iran supplies drones to Russia for its war on Ukraine.
"... there are no geopolitical ‘camps’, ‘blocs’ or ‘axes’, as mainstream media and popular geopolitics writers, on both the right and left, are so fond of. Rather, all we have is global capitalism, the pigsty of global profit-making, where at times, all may be against all in their rivalry, with no relevance of any imaginary ‘camps’, and at other times, all are in it together."
Karadjis provides statistics to show that leading BRICs members, while criticizing Israel in words, are supplying Israel with the oil and coal it needs to prop up its economy, to keep it running during wartime. Russia is providing oil while Israel refrains from criticizing Russia on Ukraine. India provides oil and in return Israel provides drones to India. Azerbaijan is a major provider of oil, and in exchange Israel provides arms to Azerbaijan as it resists Russian and Iranian encroachments. Brazil and China are also implicated in Israel's energy economy. I was especially interested to read about Israel's peaceful and supportive relationship with the Assad regime in Syria, and of Russia-Iran competition in Syria. Russian air defense systems supplied to Syria have been quiet when Israeli planes attack Iranian forces in Syria. Of course, at other times, Iran and Russia cooperate, and Iran supplies drones to Russia for its war on Ukraine.
Re: BRICS and Israel’s ongoing energy supplies
The following article from Haaretz provides another more complex picture of Middle East goings-on than the usual "Iran and the axis of resistance vs. Israel and the U.S." The author describes Iran's diplomatic initiatives that have helped soften the blow from Israel's military. Iran was very active at the recent BRICs summit talking to Arab leaders like al-Sisi of Egypt, even though Iran and Egypt have no official diplomatic relations.
Zvi Bar’el, “Iran Is Striving for Regional Strategic Achievements, Not an Exchange of Blows With Israel; Iran's attempts to position itself as an influential regional power, and not just a focus of threats and confrontation, could have implications for the way it acts militarily against Israel – and affect its ability to contribute to a solution to the war in Lebanon and Gaza.” Haaretz, October 27, 2024, 6:00 am IST
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-new ... 30a809b551
Very interesting analysis of Middle East diplomacy. Iran is protected not only by the axis of resistance, or “ring of fire”, but also by a diplomatic cordon that Iran has erected in recent years. Iran attended the BRICs summit in Russia and held long talks there with Russia and with Egypt’s president al-Sisi. It has also revived diplomatic relations with the Gulf states. Regional governments in Jordan, Iraq and Gulf states refused to allow their air space to be used during Israel’s retaliatory attack on Iran a few days ago. Iran used diplomatic relations to soften Israel’s retaliation, which had to be coordinated with (directed by) the U.S.
Zvi Bar’el, “Iran Is Striving for Regional Strategic Achievements, Not an Exchange of Blows With Israel; Iran's attempts to position itself as an influential regional power, and not just a focus of threats and confrontation, could have implications for the way it acts militarily against Israel – and affect its ability to contribute to a solution to the war in Lebanon and Gaza.” Haaretz, October 27, 2024, 6:00 am IST
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-new ... 30a809b551
Very interesting analysis of Middle East diplomacy. Iran is protected not only by the axis of resistance, or “ring of fire”, but also by a diplomatic cordon that Iran has erected in recent years. Iran attended the BRICs summit in Russia and held long talks there with Russia and with Egypt’s president al-Sisi. It has also revived diplomatic relations with the Gulf states. Regional governments in Jordan, Iraq and Gulf states refused to allow their air space to be used during Israel’s retaliatory attack on Iran a few days ago. Iran used diplomatic relations to soften Israel’s retaliation, which had to be coordinated with (directed by) the U.S.