ABSTRACT
The chapter addresses the current state of Israeli–Russian bilateral relations often described as “the golden age.” Experts tend to point to Israel’s economic and security interests as well as its Russian-speaking community as the decisive factors determining the nature of these relations. Promoting close ties with Putin is usually explained by Israel’s need to consolidate its security understanding over southern Syria with Russia, reduce the risk of war and mobilize Russian-speaking citizens to vote for Likud.
I argue that these factors, though considered in this relationship, do not determine its nature and specific feature. The current dialogue has been shaped by the neoliberal rationality and political affinities of Russia’s and Israel’s self-serving right-wing populist leaders who reveal the similarities between their political thinking and reasoning, qualities and approaches. Russian–Israeli cooperation in general, and especially in military actions in Syria, reflects the logic of the neoliberal approach to international relations, which integrates ideas and values into the repertoire of goods and services eligible for transactions.
Over the last decade, Israeli–Russian relations have been developing in the “manual steering mode” shaped by Netanyahu and Putin’s personal relations while the main interest uniting them is maintaining the political status quo.
