During his disastrous press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, President Trump said that Putin “is helping Israel.”
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Russia supports Iran, Hezbollah, Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and Hamas — all of which are committed to Israel’s destruction. Additionally, those five actors work in tandem to achieve their goals in the Middle East.
Iran is a theocratic regime which repeatedly chants “Death to Israel” and is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. As Israeli intelligence recently discovered, it is developing a nuclear weapons program aimed at the annihilation of the Jewish state.
The appeasing 2015 Iran nuclear deal gave the regime $150 billion in sanctions relief, which has gone toward its proxies such as Hezbollah, Assad, and Hamas to threaten Israel’s security. Additionally, the deal allows for Iran to continue launching ballistic missiles in addition to developing nuclear weapons which can eliminate Israel, and even hit the United States and Europe.
Even if Russia pushes Iran out of Syria, the threats Israel’s enemies pose on its northern border would persist.
Hezbollah, which is a global terrorist entity, is led by the notorious Hassan Nasrallah, who has said, “The Islamic resistance backs the Lebanese government and army, and the Zionists must take Lebanon’s warning seriously,” “I am against any reconciliation with Israel,” and “There is no legal and legitimate state called Israel.”
Last month, the Department of Justice arrested two men tied to Hezbollah for plotting attacks against Israelis and Americans in the U.S. and Panama.
Syria’s regime has armed Hezbollah militarily with “advanced antitank missiles received from Russia, along with rockets and other missiles,” according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Late last week, Israel decimated Hezbollah targets in response to a Syrian drone that reportedly infiltrated Israeli airspace, which Israel shot down.
Assad, in addition to committing a genocide (backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah) that has killed at least 400,000 of his own people, is also no friend of Israel.
Assad once said, “Lebanon was under Israeli occupation, up to its capital, but we did not consider that a disaster. Why? Because it was very clear that there are ways to resist.” Israel has never “occupied” Lebanon, rather fought in response to Hezbollah firing rockets from there into Israel. When one actor attacks another, it should not be outrageous for the attacked to respond proportionally, which Israel did in 2006.
Finally, Russia has sympathized with Hamas. Alexander Shein, Russia’s ambassador to Israel, said in a June 9 interview that “We do not consider [Hamas and Hezbollah] to be terrorist [groups].”
Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appreciation over “the security coordination between Israel and Russia,” the aforementioned groups are nothing but a threat to Israel’s security despite Trump’s premise that Russia helps Israel.
That, on top of a press conference that was a moral disgrace.
Jackson Richman (@JacksonRichman) is a journalist in Washington, D.C.
