To Build A Stronger Relationship With Israel, Should US Fund Hamas Like Russia?
Russia has never declared Hamas a terrorist organization. Indeed, Russia strongly supports and funds Syria and Israel has accused Syria of aiding Hamas and has conducted military operations in Syrian territory as part of its current war.
Yet, while Netanyahu has criticized the Biden administration for failing to veto a Gaza cease fire resolution, you do not see Netanyahu making similar condemnations of Putin even though Russia voted for this resolution, but the US simply abstained! Indeed, Netanyahu has often touted his relationship with Putin despite Putin's support of Israel's enemies.
So, perhaps to build a closer relationship with Israel, the US has been approaching Netanyahu's regime all wrong. Rather than funding Israel, perhaps the US should take a page out of Putin's book and fund Israel's enemies given that Netanyahu's regime seems to be dismissive of US support, but forgiving and groveling toward Putin.
https://time.com/6329850/hamas-gaza-russia-putin-israel/
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu used to call Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, his “dear friend.” Since 2015, the Israeli leader has visited Russia more than 10 times, and proudly hung a giant poster of the two presidents shaking hands over his party headquarters during an election campaign in 2019. But the relationship between Russia and Israel has cooled following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even if Israel has remained more reluctant to support Ukraine than its Western allies would have liked.
Even so, it came as a shock to many in Israel to see a group of high-ranking Hamas members meeting with a senior Russian official on Oct. 26. The Israeli Foreign Ministry slammed the decision to invite Hamas members to Moscow as “an act in support of terrorism” and called for Russia to expel the Hamas delegation.
Tense relationships between Russia and Israel have only become more frayed following a riot in Dagestan, in southern Russia, on Oct. 29. Hundreds of rioters stormed an airport to search for Israelis arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. Israel has condemned the mob and asked Moscow to protect Israeli citizens and Jews in Russia.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-another-league-netanyahu-touts-friendship-with-putin-in-new-billboard/
Knowingly or not, Russia President Vladimir Putin has been recruited to the Israeli election campaign, appearing alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a large billboard Sunday visible to thousands of drivers during rush hour on central Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway.
The poster hanging on Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party’s headquarters on the corner of King George and Ben Zion streets shows the two leaders shaking hands under the slogan “Netanyahu: In a league of his own.”
The campaign comes as the ruling party targets Russian speaking voters, who makes up 12 percent — or some 770,000 — of the 6.3 million eligible voters in Israel, amid a rift with the Israeli-Russian Yisrael Beytenu party.
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