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The US and more than 20 other countries have expelled Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. As of this writing, Israel has not expelled any Russian diplomats in response to this particular incident.

Given that Israel is considered a US ally and is a major recipient of the US foreign aid, what would be the possible reasons behind Israel's not joining in the effort to punish Russia?

Machavity
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ebhh2001
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    Three close votes and no comments. I think this question is a good one the answers are very interesting. Any suggestions for improvement are welcomed (close votes / downvotes alone are not very helpful). – Alexei Apr 01 '18 at 20:37
  • You should also note that the expulsions were a response not directly to the assassination attempt, but in response to personal requests from Theresa May. Do you know if she asked Israel? – Sentinel Apr 01 '18 at 22:20
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    @Alexei if you click on "close (3)", you can see the category given. In my case, I VTC as it seemed like a question asked in bad faith to make Israel look bad. – Golden Cuy Apr 01 '18 at 23:19
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    @AndrewGrimm - yes, but "not a good faith effort" is very ambiguous and my opinion is that it can easily be abused. While not expelling can be seen as a "bad thing", question does not say that: it merely express: 20+ Western countries (including US) expelled Russia diplomats. Israel is an important US ally. Why not join the effort? The good answers show that it is not that simple and many politics newbies can learn from them. – Alexei Apr 02 '18 at 04:55
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    @AndrewGrimm - if you think this question is asked in bad faith, what about this one? – Alexei Apr 02 '18 at 05:01
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    @AndrewGrimm I am curious why do you believe it's not asked in good faith? The OP doesn't make any accusing statements against Israel, hasn't included any loaded phrases, isn't trying to push an agenda. It's a legitimate question on why is a country X which is generally aligned to Country Y not siding with that Country especially when it is a strategic partner of Y? Maybe we should stop treating every Israel related question with extra-care gloves? I still want to learn your reasons for why you think it's in bad faith. – NSNoob Apr 02 '18 at 08:10
  • @NSNoob which question are you referring to, "Why has Israel not expelled Russian diplomats in response to the Skripal poisoning?", or "On what basis do Western countries consider Israel a legitimate country?". If the former, the phrase "Given that Israel is considered a US ally" implies that it isn't really an ally. – Golden Cuy Apr 02 '18 at 08:21
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    @AndrewGrimm I am talking about this question (Sorry should have been more clear), The other question is definitely in bad-faith once you see the edit history. As for the phrase, I think it's super-harsh to close a question just because of one insignificant phrase. We have edit option to deal with such minor infractions, just editing out "considered" would have done. I still don't think the phrasing merits closing but just saying that if you do, editing the controversial word is better than closing a valid question – NSNoob Apr 02 '18 at 08:25
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    @NSNoob: The “Given …” phrase continues and draws a connection between “receiving aid from the US” and “doing what the US wishes”. The corollary is that who doesn’t follow orders shouldn’t get the aid. Something that Trump likes to make explicit, by the way. – chirlu Apr 02 '18 at 11:22
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    @chirlu Agreed, as you say, that is inline with the policy the current US administration. They did threaten countries voting against US on Jerusalem resolution with aid cuts so it's not very surprising that a part of the population actually believes that this is what Aid is for. – NSNoob Apr 02 '18 at 13:58
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    Seeing how the Skripal incident looks strikingly similar to several historic scapegoat stage plays which lead to e.g. World War II or the Gulf Wars, a better question would be why did several nations expel diplomats. I'm not saying the Russians didn't do it, but the fact remains that the UK yelled out accusations and failed to provide evidence or let the accused party or an independent party verify the evidence. Which is what all countries expelling these diplomats (including my country) consider obligatory when you accuse someone of any non-trivial thing, let alone murder. – Damon Apr 03 '18 at 09:55
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    @AndrewGrimm: "the phrase 'Given that Israel is considered a US ally' implies that it isn't really an ally" No, it literally outright states the opposite. You're being ridiculous. – Lightness Races in Orbit Apr 03 '18 at 10:02
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    Given that @Lightness Races in Orbit is considered an intelligent and polite person with a good grasp of English, why would he/she write something like the previous comment? – chirlu Apr 04 '18 at 09:19
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    @chirlu - Is it because it's a reasonable and intelligent comment? – Hannover Fist Apr 04 '18 at 15:38
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    @HannoverFist chirlu was giving an example of a sentence with "Given that ... is considered". – Golden Cuy Apr 05 '18 at 04:36

6 Answers6

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Israel has a complicated relationship with Russia, which it doesn't want to hurt.

Russia is a major supporter of Assad's regime in Syria, which is aligned with Iran and Hezbollah, Israel's bitter enemies (see here). Yet, Russia does not interfere when Israel operates in Syria against them.

Russia is also a significant importer of Israeli produce, as well as a significant source for tourism in Israel.

All in all, Israel has a lot to lose from upsetting Russia, and little to gain.

ugoren
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    "All in all, Israel has a lot to lose from upsetting Russia, and little to gain." ... This could be said of most, if not all, countries that actually expelled diplomats. The US, for example, needs Russia in the war on terrorism, eradication of ISIS, and in dealings with Syria, Iran and possibly North Korea. What does expelling diplomats accomplish for the US? Very little, if anything, in the grand scheme of things. Still, good answer in my view +1. – Michael Benjamin Apr 01 '18 at 10:51
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    @Michael_B All the countries who responded had much more to lose wrt the UK more so than they did Russia, even if they are estranged from the European Union - Russian economic power pales in comparison to the UK. The necessity of Russian aid in fighting terrorism is severely overblown and their actions make them just as liable to be a perpetrator, so sharing too much information is probably unwise. Even in Syria, I doubt they really could stop a committed US military from overthrowing or crippling Assad’s regime. – TravMatth Apr 01 '18 at 14:47
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    I don't see any chance of the UK risking economic relations with any of these countries, should they not have joined in on the diplomatic sanctions. This is especially true in a post-Brexit era. It's just not worth it. It looks more like NATO trying to prove its relevance by rallying around a member state (the UK) and targeting its original foe. – Michael Benjamin Apr 01 '18 at 14:58
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    Politics, Cold War and the heritage of Israel-USSR relationship aside, the Jewish residents in the land of Israel have always been culturally Russophile. There are over 1M Russian citizens in Israel and many more whose forefathers were born in the Russian Empire. While the history of Jews in Russia was not always smooth politically and religiously, there was a lot of cultural exchange. It has not been mentioned here that the Russian government would send fire-fighting aircrafts to help Israel fight large wildfires. The US government would not; it only offered to rent private American planes. – rapt Apr 01 '18 at 22:03
  • @TravMatth Disagree. Look at CZ for example. They expel 3 diplomats from a Prague embassy of approx 150 diplomats. Symbolic support given after personal request from Theresa May, and not unanimously approved.Russia is far more important to the EU than the UK, especially in the midst of Brexit. As for your US committing to fighting Russia in Syria, a scenario that should never be contemplated. – Sentinel Apr 01 '18 at 22:13
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    Trump expelled all the diplomats but informed Russia they could appoint a whole bunch of new ones right away. It was an empty gesture. – Shadur-don't-feed-the-AI Apr 02 '18 at 12:01
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    @Michael_B Not all countries are acting as rational self-interested actors at the moment... – wedstrom Apr 02 '18 at 15:13
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    @Shadur: Is that documented somewhere? – copper.hat Apr 02 '18 at 22:28
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    @michael_b It might be worth pointing out that for at least some of the states that did expel internal politics having nothing to do with the UK, Russia or economics might be to blame. Don't forget that expelling diplomats has local PR effects such as seeming to be tough, or important etc. It might even be part of a fight between a PM and the president.;) – DRF Apr 03 '18 at 12:19
  • Who is "them"? Syrians? Russians? Iranians? Hezbollah? A combination? Can you be more clear in your answer (even if it may or may not be answered by opening the link)? – Peter Mortensen Apr 04 '18 at 01:52
  • Russia might be changing tact: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/09/middleeast/syria-missile-strike-intl/index.html – Sam Apr 09 '18 at 14:27
  • Many Israeli citizens are of russian descent. That's a major point. – xrorox May 28 '18 at 16:04
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In January 2010, a team of Israeli government agents travelled to Dubai, UAE and, in a highly-sophisticated operation, assassinated a senior official of the terrorist organization Hamas.

Dubai police were able to describe the operation by piecing together surveillance videos, which were released to the public.

Israel was subject to international condemnation for the attack. Many countries responded to Israel with warnings, threats, arrest warrants and/or diplomatic expulsions.

One country with no reaction was Russia.

Now that Russia has conducted a similar operation, Israel may be acting in-kind.

Note: Both Israel and Russia have denied involvement in these operations. Nothing has been proven in a court of law. Therefore, the charges against Israel and Russia are mere allegations.

References:

Michael Benjamin
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The action against Russian Diplomats is being led by the UK, not the US. UK and Israel are not particularly close.

The other countries that have supported the UK are Countries with a close relationship with the UK: EU allies, Commonwealth allies or Nato allies. Israel is none of these.

Israel has a complex relationship with Russia. It's not clear that the UK or her allies even asked Israel to act against Russia.

James K
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Israel's prime minister has a thin majority which includes the far-right and Russian-speaking Lieberman, who is minister of defense. His party historically gets most votes from Russians in Israel, who like Putin.

Since Lieberman entered the government around 2009, Israel has cozied up a lot with Russia.

Some context:

Nemo
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  • And Putin is, for personal reasons, rather more pro-Israel than one would imagine he would be for solely professional reasons. He even visited once. I imaging they don't want to mess that up, either. – Jeffiekins Apr 02 '18 at 22:00
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    @Jeffiekins, Putin visited UK twice. That didn't prevent UK from expelling Russian diplomats. – grovkin Apr 03 '18 at 17:43
  • Do you have any source to support the assertion majority of Russian-speaking Israelis are sympathetic to Putin? It seems far-fetched, but it maybe true nonetheless. So is this from your personal experience, an anecdotal account, something evidence-based, or just your assumption? – grovkin May 23 '18 at 18:33
  • @grovkin It's widely and systematically reported by international media, especially when there are elections. I didn't keep references. Do these suffice? «Russian President Vladimir Putin’s popularity with Russian Israelis» https://www.jta.org/2000/07/19/archive/in-shift-to-the-right-russians-seek-a-netanyahu-comeback https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4198346,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1369709.stm https://www.timesofisrael.com/to-many-russian-israelis-president-trump-is-a-boon-cast-in-putins-mould/ – Nemo May 23 '18 at 19:16
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    @Nemo, not really. In fact, it seems like commentary on Trump's election, but the little nuggets like "you can't stop being a soviet citizen" seem bizarre (because they were made in 2012). The whole idea that Russian immigrants don't like liberal policies because they "don't like freedom" is just too much out there. In fact, it seems openly insulting to them and dismissive of their political views. As for the topic at hand, of the 3 articles not a one stated that a majority of the Russian-speaking Israelis sympathize with Putin. They just try to dismiss them as too right-wing. – grovkin May 24 '18 at 02:57
  • @grovkin I gather that you don't like the sources I found. Feel free to offer alternative ones and I'll see if they warrant revision of my post. – Nemo May 24 '18 at 07:56
  • I don't agree that they can serve as sources. I don't know that the sentiment you expressed is wrong. I found it surprising. So I'd like to know if there is anything to support it. And while those articles do a good job of poo-pooing the Russian-speaking Israelis, they don't do a good job of explaining why they would be supportive or sympathetic to Putin or his politics. They don't even do a good job of showing whether it is plausible to suggest that Russian-speaking Israelis are so inclined. Which is NOT to say that they are not so inclined. I really don't know. – grovkin May 24 '18 at 18:27
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Israel (along with North Korea, South Sudan and Egypt) is not a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Since the UK is treating this as a CWC issue, Israel might not want to bring attention to its own status.

Brythan
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Keith McClary
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After reading all the other answers and researching the Skripal incident a bit more, one possible explanation of Israel's "inaction" has occurred to me:

Israel (Mossad) knows that the Russians (the government of the Russian Federation to be exact) was not involved.

This article (pro-Russia source warning!) suggests a possibility of a third party (other than Russia or the UK) being involved in the assassination. They mention Ukraine, for example.

ebhh2001
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    Do you have any hint than Mossad might have special information about the Skripal case, or is it pure speculation ? – Evargalo Apr 03 '18 at 07:58
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    Everything is speculation at this point, different people just choose to believe different speculations. It seems not unlikely that the answer is perfectly spot-on, except maybe that "knows" is a strong word and "believes" would be better. – Tom Apr 03 '18 at 12:02
  • @Evargalo I have no information from Mossad, but I am sure the Israeli government has and has acted accordingly. – ebhh2001 Apr 03 '18 at 12:55
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    Even if the Mossad had information pointing away from Russia I'd expect Israel to act as if that information did not exist, unless it was common knowledge. Else 1. Russia/anyone could guess what sources had leaked, and 2. if no one else knows this hypothetical information then Israel's reaction would seem out of place publicly, other nations and the public can only judge by what they themselves know. – kleineg Apr 03 '18 at 16:37
  • @kleineg of course. Unless there were other possible explanations available as a cover for the inaction such as the ones offered in the other answers. In that case, Israel cold do the "right" thing (not expel diplomats) without revealing much. – ebhh2001 Apr 03 '18 at 18:39
  • I don’t think this answer is right, but I upvoted it anyway as it’s plausible to me. – Bobson Apr 04 '18 at 13:43
  • @Evargalo the UK accusing Russia is pure speculation as well – JonathanReez Apr 09 '18 at 19:46
  • That the UK is accusing Russia is a fact. Whether the accusation itself is correct can be debated, but UK's gvt claims it is built on concrete evidence (part of it is secret). Is there a similar statement from the Israeli gvt saying they received clues from Mossad about the Skripal case ? @JonathanReez – Evargalo Apr 09 '18 at 19:59
  • @Evargalo if we assume that the UK could have secret evidence we might as well assume that Israel has secret evidence to the contrary. There's no need for them to make a statement. – JonathanReez Apr 09 '18 at 20:01
  • The UK claims they have evidence. Israel doesn't. What UK's evidence is showing is an interesting debate (not for this question though). What Israeli evidence is showing is pure speculation. @JonathanReez – Evargalo Apr 09 '18 at 20:20
  • This stopped being believable last week when Russia showed the two operatives being interviewed on TV. – Ian Ringrose Sep 17 '18 at 11:15