Power politics and selective cooperation

Russia and Israel share important elements with regard to their strategic culture. They pursue a decidedly interest-based realpolitik and can pragmatically cooperate in certain areas when their interests are compatible. Both regard themselves as a “fortress under siege”, both are oriented to the primacy of security policy, and both pursue a concept of power that is based on military might. The increased social and economic ties between Russia and Israel are of lesser importance for the rapprochement of the two states. However, the limits of this proximity are evident. They lie in the unpredictable dynamic of the war in Syria and in the conflicting positions of the two countries regarding the role that Iran and the US should play in the region.