There is a real risk that a conflict in the Middle East diverts Western attention.
By Adam Taylor
Foreign Reporter
The Washington Post
For over a year and a half, the war in Ukraine has dominated global attention due to the bloody scenes after Russia’s invasion. But Saturday’s shocking attacks in Israel, led by the Palestinian group Hamas, and an impending war in the Gaza Strip in retaliation, look set to change the battlefield for both Kyiv and Moscow.
For Ukraine, there is a real risk that a conflict in the Middle East diverts Western attention — and with that, the military and economic support needed to continue its fight against Russia. And while Russia may welcome that diversion, a broader conflict in the Middle East could sever its already frosty relations with Israel, a former economic partner and a potential high-tech military supplier for Ukraine.
Already, the two nations are picking sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was one of the first world leaders to reach out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Saturday’s attack. In public statements, he has directly compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hamas. “The terrorists will not change. They just must lose — and that means we must win,” Zelensky said Wednesday during a surprise visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Meanwhile, Putin stayed quiet about the attack until Tuesday and, even then, described the situation primarily as a failure of Washington. “I think many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East,” Putin said at a Kremlin meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, adding that it had never taken into account “the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people.”
Putin, who formerly had a close relationship with Netanyahu, has not reached out to the Israeli leader to offer his condolences after Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis. The war in Ukraine has drawn Russia closer to Iran, Israel’s most powerful regional rival and a key backer of Hamas, according to Western intelligence.
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