Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two men, meeting in person for the first time since 2021, are expected to discuss Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Kremlin has maintained relations with both Israel and the Palestinians, but experts say its real influence on the conflict is limited and the meeting is more symbolic in nature.
“If you look at Russia’s involvement in the Palestinian issue, it’s not limited to Palestine,” Samuel Rahmani, author of Russia in Africa, told Al Jazeera.
“While the US supports Israel, it is really solidifying itself in the Arab world by showing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. So this conference is not just about Palestine, it is also about Russia’s soft power in the Middle East.”
Unlike the United States and the European Union, Russia has not blacklisted Hamas as a “terrorist” organization, and welcomed a Hamas delegation to Moscow shortly after its victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections, treating it as a legitimate political force.
In February, Russia invited representatives of Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad to a meeting aimed at resolving the sometimes bitter divisions between them.
“But nothing came of it,” said Ruslan Suleimanov, an independent Russian expert on the Middle East who now lives in Baku.
“That’s all Moscow can do in general. It has no serious influence on the Palestinian factions. In addition to supporting the Palestinians, Moscow must criticize the Western countries that support Israel. Today, Russia takes an anti-Western and, consequently, anti-Israeli stance. For example, when the UN Security Council meets to discuss the Anglo-American proposal (on Gaza), Russia always vetoes it, which the Palestinians appreciate. But this does not translate into any kind of capital.”
In October, Russia proposed a ceasefire in Gaza at the UN Security Council, but the US, UK, France and Japan rejected it.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has reportedly sent hundreds of tons of aid, mainly food and hygiene supplies, to besieged Palestinian areas, which will be distributed through the Egyptian Red Crescent.
“It is important to show once again that the Kremlin is playing a role, but I don’t think that will lead to any results,” Suleimanov added.
“Abbas will soon be 90. It is clear that a transfer of power is imminent in Palestine. I think the Kremlin knows this. If they don’t already know, they will be watching closely to see who will take Abbas’ place. Perhaps this will be discussed as well.”
Russia and Israel
Meanwhile, the histories of Israel and Russia are deeply intertwined.
Fleeing pogroms and persecution, Jews from the Russian Empire formed the first wave of mass immigration from Europe to Palestine.
After World War II, the Soviet Union originally supported the 1947 partition plan, citing the failure of Western countries to protect their Jewish populations, and was the first country to recognize a Jewish state.
The fledgling Israeli army also received weapons from communist Czechoslovakia, then a Kremlin vassal. Soviet leader Josef Stalin may have seen Israel as a useful wedge against British interests in the Middle East.
However, the Soviet Union soon disavowed Zionism and instead provided weapons and equipment to neighboring Arab states and the Palestinian liberation movement.
As a student in the 1970s, Abbas earned his doctorate from Moscow’s Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University and wrote a controversial thesis arguing that there were common interests between early Zionists and the Nazis.
Israeli researchers have also claimed, based on Soviet documents, that Abbas was a KGB agent. Abbas has dismissed these claims, accusing the researchers of trying to sabotage peace talks.
After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Kremlin completely severed diplomatic relations with Israel until the end of the Cold War, only reestablishing them after the collapse of communism in the early 1990s.
Modern Russia has tried to balance its relations with Israel by supporting Palestine.
Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have maintained a publicly friendly relationship, and have even been spotted watching ballet together. Their relationship has become complicated by Russia’s involvement in Syria and its alliance with Hezbollah, which is supported by Israel’s sworn enemy, Iran.
“There are mutual expectations,” said Mark N. Katz, a professor emeritus at George Mason University, adding that Israeli officials are “afraid” that a worsening of relations between the two countries could harm the Jewish community in Russia.
“Moscow does not want to see Israel do anything to supply arms to Ukraine and has been grateful for Israel’s restraint on this issue. Israel cites the de-escalation agreement between the Russian and Israeli militaries in Syria, under which Israel attacks Iran and Hezbollah but does not harm Russia,” Katz said.
According to Rahmani, “Israel is acting in an increasingly unilateral manner in Syria, sometimes to the point of simply providing intelligence to Russia instead of consulting and engaging with them.”
So far, Israel has refused to impose sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but relations have cooled noticeably.
“Remember Putin’s openly anti-Semitic remarks about Zelensky’s Jewish roots, (Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov’s remarks about Jewish responsibility for the Holocaust… all this happened long before October 7,” Suleimanov said.
“But after October 7, relations became even more tense. In Israel, Russia’s embrace of Hamas is now completely unacceptable. Before October 7, it was understandable because it was assumed that Moscow would act as a mediator, but now it looks completely different. And when Putin compared the bombing of Gaza to the siege of Leningrad, it was also received very badly in Israel.”
Israel has a significant Russian-born immigrant population, and the Kremlin, through its channels with Hamas, secured the release of several Russian-Israeli prisoners held on October 7.
“Russia now has smaller diplomatic objectives, as Russian-Israeli relations have been so strained by criticism of the war and by relations with Iran,” Rahmani explained. “For example, Russia is engaging Hamas to get Russian hostages out of their territory.”
Iran factor
In July, Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, and Iran, a close Russian ally, promised revenge.
The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the killing, describing it as a counterproductive move toward a ceasefire and urging all parties to show restraint.
“If there were an Israel-Iran conflict, what are the chances that the United States would get involved in such a war, and what might Russia actually do?” Katz said.
“The Russian military (in Ukraine) is quite tense. For a week it seemed like they were advancing, but now they seem to be on the defensive. Is Russia capable of acting in a way that will determine the outcome of the conflict?”
