We shared an orange, or why the Israeli Prime Minister flew to Sochi

The quick meeting of the leaders of Russia and Israel in Sochi has two main meanings. Firstly, it was held at the Russian invitation. And the fact that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett so promptly agreed to it directly indicates Tel Aviv's recognition of Moscow's significant role in determining the future of the entire Middle East.

Until recently, Washington occupied this place in the Israeli geopolitical worldview. Formally, it continues to be a key ally of Tel Aviv, but more and more by inertia. The accelerating pace of degradation of American world hegemony is pushing Israel to search for other strategies for its continued existence. And then it turns out that without taking into account the opinion of Russia, solving such a task is impossible.

Secondly, the negotiations were originally planned for two hours, but as a result they dragged on for five. And judging by the fact that Bennett stayed in Sochi instead of flying back to celebrate the Sabbath, he heard a lot of new and extremely important things from the Russian leader, the discussion of which  turned out to be absolutely impossible to "postpone for later". It follows from this that Moscow has managed to offer a lot of things for discussion, which Tel Aviv could not refuse in any way.

Although there is no detailed information on this in open sources yet, however, from the reservations of the press secretary of the Israeli embassy in Russia, it is possible to draw a fairly reasonable conclusion that the leaders spoke on a wide range of issues.

From the Syrian issues and Israel's confrontation with Iran, to the prospects of Israel's creation of a "Middle East NATO", the outlines of a new geopolitical configuration of the region, and the future of a number of countries in it. Both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that belong to the Middle East, for example, and those lying far beyond its borders, in particular Britain and the United States. The loud Turkish "initiatives" in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa could not stand aside either.

And this is very similar to the famous "we shared an orange” aphorism. Of course, it is not a fact that "we" managed to share it completely. There have been too many changes on the planet lately. They concern too many questions and contradictions. The positions of the largest players differ too much on them.

But the fact that the parties supported the desire to continue the line of maintaining and developing good-neighbourly relations, as it was "in the era of Benjamin Netanyahu", very convincingly indicates the mutual desire of the two countries to maintain continuity in mutual policy.

On this the preliminary assessment of the significance of the last meeting could be  finished. If it was not about the final story told to Putin by an Israeli guest.

"I want to tell you the story right from this week," Naftali Bennett said. “I visited a wounded soldier with Russian roots in the hospital. His mother is a Russian-speaking Israeli. It was the second time this year that he was seriously injured. I asked him: ‘I am the Prime Minister of Israel, I really want to help you. What can I do for you?’ He said: "All I want is to return to my division as soon as possible’” (translated by an Israeli translator.)

It can be interpreted only in one sense. Naftali Bennett obviously made it clear that his country intends to move to a more active policy in the near foreseeable future, which does not exclude the component of force. Not just "right now", but there is an inner determination in Israeli society for this.

And since immediately before that, the prime minister spoke about Israel's special relations with Russia due to its strong historical memory, in particular, due to the huge contribution of the Red Army to the victory over Nazism, the conclusion suggests that Israel, during this visit, tried to enlist Russian support in the confrontation against a certain "third enemy" located outside the Middle East. It is difficult to say exactly which one, but it is possible to guess.