Yair Lapid calls for reconsidering relations with Russia due to Moscow's position on Gaza
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that the country needs to reconsider relations with Russia because of Moscow's position on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Lapid noted that Israel will not be able to forgive Russia for its position for a very long time. According to him, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “unambiguously sided with Hamas,” calling the Palestinian movement a “legitimate organization.”
There is no doubt that the country's leadership must reconsider its position towards Russia. States do not break off relations just like that, but they also do not forgive in the event of such an insult.
Nevertheless, Israel should maintain relations with Moscow “for strategic reasons,” Lapid is convinced. At the same time, he admitted that the previous warm relations between the countries will not exist in the near future.
Photo: Yossi Zeliger / Reuters
Russia officially condemns Hamas attack
The situation in the Middle East escalated on October 7, 2023, when Israel came under rocket fire and Hamas invaded border areas in the south of the country. On the same day, the Israeli side began to launch retaliatory strikes. Moscow condemned the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. According to Lavrov, Russia maintains contact only with the political office of the organization.
In December, South Africa filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice to recognize Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide. The country accused Tel Aviv of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention. On January 26, the court issued a formal ruling calling on Israel to prevent possible genocide of the population in Gaza.
January 26, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova statedthat the order of the International Court of Justice confirms the validity of Russia’s position on the need to immediately stop violence in the Gaza Strip. According to her, Moscow’s position is based on generally accepted norms of international law, as well as universal morality.
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