New Friends
Russia, Israel sign counterterrorism memo.
DAN BARON
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
srael has a new, if somewhat
reluctant, partner in the war on
terror: Russia.
Reeling from the loss of at least
335 of its citizens, roughly half of
them children, at the hands of
Chechen terrorists, Moscow signed a
security cooperation memorandum
with Jerusalem on Sept. 6, despite a
lingering diplomatic dispute on how
terrorism should be defined.
"The terrorism that struck Russia
is exactly the same kind of terrorism
that strikes us," Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon said, referring to last week's
siege of a school in the disputed
Russian region of North Ossetia.
Visiting Russian Minister Sergei
Lavrov said contacts were already
under way between the two coun-
tries' security agencies and thanked
Israel for its help, but demurred at
the bid by Sharon to establish a
sense of common cause.
Although he called terrorism a
"universal evil," Lavrov suggested
that the Palestinians could be seen as
resisting Israeli occupation in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, while the
Muslim separatist cause based in
Chechnya is illegitimate.
Russia, a member of the Middle
East "Quartet" that pushed the now-
moribund "road map" peace plan,
was also at pains to make clear that
it would not neglect the Arab world.
"I believe the key to the solution
of the problem is to bring all coun-
tries to fight terror and I can assure
you that in addition to our very
close counterterrorist cooperation
with Israel we have similar countert-
errorist cooperation with Arab coun-
tries," said Lavrov during his one-
day visit as part of a Middle East
tour.
It was not clear what form the new
Israeli-Russian cooperation would
take. Yet, for many in Jerusalem, just
the declaration of empathy from a
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2004
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Sharon's office Monday in Jerusalem.
major European player was an
achievement.
Israeli media quickly called the
events at the school in Beslan
"Russia's 9-11," hinting that it could
bring Moscow more into line with
the U.S. war on terror launched fol-
lowing the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking
attacks in the U.S.
"The Soviet Union was notorious-
ly pro-Arab, and the sense in Israel
is that Russia has not quite gotten
over that," a Sharon confidant said.
It was important that Russia under-
stand, even the hard way, the sort of
terrorism we have endured for
decades, and especially over the last
four years."
Despite killing more than 100,000
Chechens in its 13-year crackdown
on the restive region, Russia has reg-
ularly censured Israel for its han-
dling of the Palestinian revolt. Israeli
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom put
the new security pact to its first test
by calling on Russia to oppose anti-
Israel moves by the Palestinians and
their Arab backers at the United
Nations.
In the last 21 U.N. resolutions on
Israel, Russia has voted against the
Jewish state 17 times and abstained
on the others. Russia did not imme-
diately respond to Shalom's call. ❑