Evgueni Satarovski: If Erdogan is determined to go to war with Israel, then everyone will know who the superpower in the Middle East is
"People are fighting for their lives: for themselves, for their children, for their relatives. They don't care what others think about it"
At the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York, the issue of Israel and Palestine was highly focused on. Several countries have planned to recognize the independence of Palestine. Evgueni Satarovski, director of the Middle East Institute, spoke to "Svobodnaya Pressa" about the current situation in Israel.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": Evgeny Anovitch (the name and patronymic of Satarovski), a new term has appeared in our political talk shows: Israel is trying to become the "gendarmerie" of the Middle East. Is this really true?
Satarovski: This statement is extremely foolish, typical of the times of Suslov (Leonid Suslov, the ideological chief during the Soviet era). I strongly advise these people not to use "Suslov-type expressions" so that they appear slightly smarter — in my opinion, such expressions are just the nonsense of dull and rigid-minded people.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": What role does Israel play in the Middle East?
Satarovski: Its role depends on what the neighboring countries want it to play. Israel is an influential player in the region and is now one of the regional superpowers in the Middle East and North Africa, and as we can see, its influence is stronger than Iran's.
But whether Israel is more influential than Turkey, we are not sure yet. If Recep Tayyip Erdogan (the President of Turkey) is really determined to go to war with Israel — then the answer will be revealed at that time.
For decades, Israel has been defending itself against various opponents and has repeatedly defeated them. Of course, Israel also makes mistakes and does stupid things, and sometimes suffers local setbacks when participating in peacekeeping operations led by the U.S. Department of State or the United Nations.
But once it returns to its "nature," starts fighting its enemies, and supports its allies, everything will fall into place. For those who cooperate with it, Israel is a country worth respecting; for those who try to destroy it, Israel is a thorn in the flesh. This is a normal situation in the Middle East and North Africa.
It should be a routine for Moscow observers to get used to this. Israel has existed longer than the Soviet Union. Now the Soviet Union no longer exists, and if Russia continues like this (not truly fighting its enemies), it may follow the same fate as the Soviet Union.
Israel maintains its survival with its existing allies — that is, the United States. Our allies are North Korea. We will express our gratitude to the North Koreans, while the Israelis will thank the Americans.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": How many people in Israeli society support Netanyahu (the Prime Minister of Israel) and his policies?
Satarovski: A significant portion of Israeli society (less than half) simply hates Netanyahu on a personal level, which cannot be changed. Just like the movie "Mimino" said: "I hate him to the point where I can't eat."
Many people in Israeli society also do not approve of those who vote for Netanyahu. The Orthodox Jews are especially dissatisfied with this. Additionally, some people are annoyed by the settlers (referring to Israelis who establish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories). You should understand: Israel is a country where everyone dislikes each other, and it has always been like that.
"Jews love each other and support each other" — this naive idea is believed only by those who have never seen real Jews.
Disliking each other is the norm, but even so, Netanyahu and his coalition parties can still win the majority of voters' support, which cannot be changed. He could form a majority government in the past, and he still has the ability to do so now.
The only way to overthrow Netanyahu is through the Israeli electorate. But he will fight hard to protect himself because Israel is a "strict" country: here, even minor violations that are ignored in Russia will be severely punished.
Whether it is the Prime Minister or the former president (such as Moshe Katsav, who was sentenced to seven years in prison — note from "Svobodnaya Pressa"), they will end up in jail for accepting gifts that Russian housing officials can obtain in bulk. Israel is a country with strict rule of law.
Therefore, Netanyahu will continue to fight hard to protect himself, and he is currently doing it successfully.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": Is Netanyahu beneficial for Russia?
Satarovski: There is no better Prime Minister of Israel for Russia than Netanyahu. Because he has a very poor relationship with the Democrats in the United States (he cannot tolerate them at all). He also doesn't like the "big talker" Ukrainian president (Zelensky), and in this respect, Netanyahu shares the position of Trump.
Additionally, he has a good relationship with Putin — none of the Israeli politicians in the left-wing or centrist camps (the so-called "peace camp") who want to overthrow Netanyahu can establish such a good relationship with Putin.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": Suppose the centrist — the "peace camp" — comes to power in Israel, will the war stop?
Satarovski: If Israel stops fighting its enemies, it will be completely destroyed. The actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023 (the day of the Russian President's birthday) have already shown us this (note: the large-scale attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023).
The cruelty will not be less than the most brutal atrocities of the Holocaust era. Like the massacre of civilians by Bandera militants (referring to members of the Ukrainian nationalist organization, who participated in anti-Soviet activities and persecuted Jews and Poles during World War II), the Arab neighbors of Israel will also commit atrocities against its people.
Whether they do it voluntarily or are incited by Iran and Turkey is irrelevant.
Therefore, everyone in Israel will rise up in resistance. By the way, the disputed territories that are mistakenly classified as "unestablished Palestine" are not occupied by the right-wing government, but by the left-wing government. Gaza was occupied during the time of the Labor Party. Doesn't this prove the point?
"Svobodnaya Pressa": Perhaps this indicates that national interests have little to do with the party affiliation of the government?
Satarovski: National interests are influenced by many factors, including bribes provided by Qatar. This situation is not only present in Russia, but also in Israel.
This also highlights the need for Netanyahu to strike at Hamas targets in Qatar — because he is facing imprisonment over the "Qatar scandal," and striking at Hamas might help him get out of trouble.
By the way, when our president (Putin) ordered the elimination of terrorists, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev (a Chechen separatist leader) was eliminated in Qatar.
We will continue to monitor Israel's future direction, but people will fight for their survival: for themselves, for their children, for their relatives. They don't care what others think about it. Normal people should behave this way.
Regarding Russia's policy in this series of events, we launched a war against terrorists in the early 2000s, and our stance was "wherever we encounter terrorists, we must eliminate them." But I really can't understand why all the Middle Eastern terrorists have come to be close to us — they enjoy life while thinking about how much they can gain from us.
Not only Hamas, but also the Taliban of Afghanistan have come to us — they don't consider women as human beings at all. In the recent earthquake in Afghanistan, women were buried under the ruins, but the Taliban banned rescue workers from helping. Now the amount of flour allocated to Afghan women has been reduced to a small fraction of that given to men, but we are still developing diplomatic relations with the Taliban.
We are also trying to establish contact with the new regime in Syria, which is controlled by forces designated as illegal organizations in Russia, and these forces are currently carrying out ethnic cleansing in Syria.
Of course, I remember the situation during the Soviet era — we could be on good terms with any "cannibal." For example, Leonid Brezhnev (former Soviet leader) was friends with Jean-Bédel Bokassa (former president of the Central African Republic, accused of cannibalism). But at that time, we needed the mineral resources of the Central African Republic. But what do we need from the Taliban?
"Svobodnaya Pressa": Recently, the United Nations is discussing the issues of Israel and Palestine. Some countries, including France, have pledged to recognize Palestine as a state.
Satarovski: I have always known that Macron (President of France) is an idiot. Let him recognize it if he wants. Israel doesn't care. Does my recognizing you as the Pope make you the Pope?
We need to distinguish between real politics and opportunistic behavior, show-offs, foolishness, and corruption. The United Nations has done nothing but scandals in recent years, and it will not change in the future.
Nowadays, no one takes the United Nations seriously, just like no one pays attention to the Arab League — because these organizations can't influence anything.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": China has been active in promoting the Middle East peace initiative. Will its efforts be effective?
Satarovski: China needs oil, natural gas, and other raw materials, some of which come from Arab countries and Iran. Turkey is, for China, a trade route to Europe bypassing Russia. As for how the people in the Middle East live and what their future will be, China doesn't care at all.
"Svobodnaya Pressa": Besides China, who else hopes for peace in the Middle East? And who else hopes for chaos in the Middle East?
Satarovski: To find out who wants the Middle East to be in flames, just ask Tehran (the capital of Iran): why do they keep declaring that they want to destroy Israel? Or ask Erdogan in Ankara (the capital of Turkey): why does he keep inciting everyone to kill each other?
The essence of the Middle East is "everyone wants to destroy each other." And everyone sincerely believes that their neighbors are "worse than beasts," deserving the worst outcome. If you count the number of deaths in the Islamic world after World War II, you will find about 40 million — all results of internal mutual killing.
Look at how many Palestinians have been killed by Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians, and Iraqis, and you will find that this number is one or two orders of magnitude higher than the number of deaths in conflicts between Palestinians and Jews.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7551597135586656809/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your attitude below using the [Up/Down] buttons.