Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces have targeted civilians in Ukraine and laid waste to large portions of that country, criticized the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a call Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated Russia’s principled position rejecting and condemning terrorist in all of its manifestations, the Kremlin press service said after his phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The conversation focused on the situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Isreli [sic] conflict and, in particular, on the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Vladimir Putin reiterated the principled position of rejecting and condemning terrorism in all of its manifestations. Along with that, it is extremely important to ensure that efforts against terrorist threats do not entail such severe consequences for the civilian population,” it said.
The Israeli readout of the call was different, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office, with Netanyahu rebuking Putin for helping Hamas via the United Nations and Iran:
The Prime Minister expressed his dissatisfaction with the positions expressed against Israel by Russian representatives at the UN and in other forums.
Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed sharp criticism of the dangerous cooperation between Russia and Iran.
The Prime Minister emphasized that any country that had been struck with a criminal terrorist assault such as Israel experienced would have reacted with no less force than Israel is using.
Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his appreciation of the Russian effort to release an Israeli citizen with Russian citizenship and said that Israel would use all means, diplomatic and military alike, to free all of our hostages.
The Prime Minister also requested that Russia apply pressure on the Red Cross regarding visits and the delivery of medicines for our hostages.
Israel and Russia have maintained cordial relations in recent years, though they have frayed over the Ukraine war. Israel held back on criticizing Russia at first, though it became more critical over time. Russia began working closely with Iran during the war, buying Iranian drones and selling Iran advanced military technology, putting further strain on the relationship.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
