Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Shimon Peres: The bond between
the
two men was on display for
the world to see, as the Russian president
visited
Israel for the opening of the Victory Monument, recalling the
Red Army’s triumph over the Nazis, and the pain and suffering
inflicted
on the Russian and Jewish
peoples.
Israelis and
Russians Bound Again by Battle Against Nazis (Kommersant, Russia)
“Half a million
Jews fought in the Red Army, and 200,000 fell on the battlefield. … In the
forces on land, sea, air and the partisan forests, they fought bravely. The Red
Army acknowledged their bravery, and … more than 150 Jewish fighters were
awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. … Your coming today is a rare
historic meeting. Full of pain.Full
of pride. Bearing hope … Russia, which suffered from the blow of
fascism, will not allow similar threats. Not the Iranian threat. Not the Syrian
bloodshed.”
-- Israel President Shimon
Peres, welcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Putin is dwarfed by marble wings at the unveiling ceremony for the Victory Monument, in the Israel coastal town of Netanya. The monument commemorates the sacrifices of Russians and Jews during World War II, and the Red Army's defeat of the Nazis, June 25.
Vladimir Putin arrived in Israel yesterday, where,
together with the country's president, he dedicated a monument to Soviet
soldiers who died fighting “fascist vermin” (Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's
words). On top of that, Israel's prime minister unexpectedly saddled Vladimir
Putin with a mission: convey to head of the Palestinian Authority MahmoudAbbas that if he doesn't
come to Israel for talks, the prime minister will come to him. From Netanya and Jerusalem, here is more about how the mountain
decided to come to Muhammad, by Kommersant special correspondent
Andrei Kolesnikov.
The Israeli city
of Netanya has inaugurated amonument honoring the victory of the Red Army
over Fascist Germany. The design contest for the monument was won by Russian
architects as well as Russian businessmen (without competition, and, most
importantly, without competition among themselves): the head of Alpha Group Mikhail Fridman, Executive Director of TNK-BP
German Khan, CEO of Otkritie
Financial Services Boris Mintz, President of the ALLTECH
Group Dmitri Bosov, and businessman German Zaharyev. It is a memorial that makes a strong impression. A
million dollars was raised for its construction.
The complex consists of two parts: white and black. The
black is two walls with a passage between them [see below]. On the left is a depiction of
the suffering of the Jewish people during World War II, on the right that of
the suffering of the Soviet people. The passageway ends with a pair of 30-foot-tall
white marble wings belonging to an angel or dove (there are several explanations
and the Russian authors have yet to explain) facing the sea. [According to
Israel media, during his remarks, Putin is quoted as saying “The white rock dove symbolizes the triumph of good and
peace.”]
Thanks to the sea, despite the heat,there was a cool breeze, unlike
on the bus where some members of the Russian delegation were kept until
Vladimir Putin's arrival, a few minutes' walk away from the memorial.
A look inside the dark passage of the Victory Monument, which
recalls
the unimaginable suffering
of the Russian and Jewish peoples during
World War II, and the ultimate victory of
the Red Army.
Prior to the arrival of Russian and Israeli presidents, Vladimir
Putin and Shimon Peres, the orchestra played a medley of popular Soviet songs: Slavyanka, Moscow Nights, EyYkhnem (the Volga Boatmen song), and Wide is
the Country of Mine. Russian-speaking Jewish guests were enthusiastically
singing along to these long-forgotten oldies, and some admitted to being happy
to be breathing the same air as the Russian guests (especially sea air). In his address, Shimon Peres said “I
shudder” when I ask myself “what would have become of us (Jews),” and … “What
would have happened to all of us? If the Nazi army had conquered
Moscow, instead of the Red Army conquering Berlin.”
Indeed, this potential course of events never occurred to
anyone else in attendance - but Jews are accustomed to considering every
nuance.
Next Shimon Peres said that Israel remembers every one of its
heroes. “Half a million Jews fought in the Red Army. Two hundred thousand of
them fell on the battlefields. … Jewish soldiers served in the Red Army ... in the forces on land, sea, air and as partisans in the forests.
They fought bravely. The Red Army acknowledged their bravery, and many of them
were appointed to key positions (clearly, a highly significant point - A.K.): Of 110 army commanders - 10 were Jews. Of 200
admirals - 17 were Jews. Of 700 corps commanders - 24 were Jews. More than 150
Jewish fighters were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.
“Your coming today to Netanya,” the Israeli president said to Russia’s president,
“is a rare historic meeting. Full of pain.(clearly, in a
good sense of the word. - AK)Full of pride.Bearing hope.” With that, Shimon Perez arrived at the
political part of his statement, saying that he was sure that “Russia, which
suffered from the blow of fascism, will not allow similar threats. Not the
Iranian threat. Not the Syrian bloodshed.”
That was a polite blow to the solar plexus: one cannot
object to such a statement.
“Russia,” concluded Israel's president,
“could make a decisive contribution to peace in the Middle East.”
So far, however, it has been Russian businessmen making the
big contributions.
Vladimir
Putin said in response that, “here in Israel, where millions of people, just like in Russia, keep a special place in their hearts for dates like
September 1, 1939,June 22, 1941, and May 9, 1945 ... It was the Soviet Army
that put an end to this madness (he
first of all means it wasn’t the Americans - AK)and
saved from destruction not just the Jewish people but many other peoples ... we
will not accept the truth being distorted and replaced by all manner of
falsifications and fabrications. To rewrite history in this way would be a
crime!”
So although no one was putting Vladimir Putin under attack,
he defended himself just in case.
“Toda raba,” concluded the president,
which undoubtedly means, “Thank you very much.”
Two young Israeli women in military uniforms laid wreaths at
the monument.
“Come on! Couldn't they at least iron their skirts?! The
skirts are wrinkled!” complained Russian-speaking Israeli reporters. Their
skirts didn’t seem too wrinkled to me, and their faces were clean and
mustache-free. But reporters always need reason to complain.
After the wreath-laying, Vladimir Putin shook hands with
each of the sponsors. This, according to Kommersant
sources, was a point of contention: Monitors of Russian protocol first objected
to a Russian president shaking hands with the Russians [on foreign soil. It seems that traveling from Russia to shake hands with Russians was thought innapropriate]. But doesn’t he do
the same in Russia? The problem was settled. They know how to settle problems
in Israel - but also how to create them.
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu didn’t take part
in the festivities because of a serious leg injury. But Vladimir Putin met with
him an hour later. After their meeting, they made a statement to the press. To do
so, they emerged from a small meeting and entered a small conference room. Or
rather, it was a tent set up under a huge mulberry tree growing in the yard.
Large corrugated tubes brought cool air, instead of the scorching-hot substance one
had to breathe outside.
Vladimir Putin summarized the gist of the meeting that
everyone was curious about in one phrase: “We had a detailed discussion of the
issues of Syria and Iran's nuclear program.”
Evidently, thirty minutes provided little chance to reach an
agreement, let alone publicize what may have been agreed upon before Mr. Putin's
visit to Palestine tomorrow.
In addition, Putin reiterated, “People
here do not dispute the decisive role the Soviet Union played in defeating
Nazism.” That, from Putin’s point of view, makes Israel the second most
comfortable country to be in after Russia.
Mr.
Netanyahu was more verbose. He said that his government contained many
Russians: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (the
only Jewish official participating in the meetings who arrived - and departed -
without a kippah),
and another minister, and an economic advisor ...
“However,” he was also constrained to admit, “I am surrounded by people
who don’t speak Russian.”
In addition, Mr. Netanyahu only once mentioned that “Iran’s
continued pursuit of nuclear weapons is a grave threat” (although it still has
none, unless of course one counts the atomic reactor in Bushehr,
which could, theoretically, explode). The prime minister then
immediately issued yet another demand to Iran: “Stop enriching uranium inside
Iran, and dismantle the underground nuclear facility near Qom.”(he did
not mean nuclear power plants. - AK).
Vladimir Putin looked distant at this point. It was clear
that Mr. Netanyahu was not expressing a joint point of view.
“Mr. President, when you want to visit a neighboring
country, you usually fly from Moscow for several hours. Our neighborhood is
much smaller,” the prime minister continued. “Tomorrow, you will meet
with President Abbas in Bethlehem, which is a four to
five minute drive from here. Ramallah is only a ten minute drive from here. The
key to peace is complex, but in the end it is very simple: either President Abbas must come here or I must go to him, and I am willing
for either of these possibilities to occur, however we must begin to talk. I
hope you convey this simple message tomorrow during your meeting in Bethlehem.”
That is to say, Mr. Netanyahu unexpectedly ascribed special
significance to Vladimir Putin's visit to the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Putin
did not object.
An hour before
the Putin-Peres talks, there was a small reception in the
courtyard of the presidential residence for members of the Russian and
delegations: red and white wine, foiegras with plum jam ... The sun was setting, there was a
light breeze ... The atmosphere was perfect for reminiscing.
So Konstantin
Kosachev (head of the Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International
Humanitarian Cooperation), in the company of Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, shared an anecdote told to him by Shimon
Peres a while ago. Israel's president was at the time a committee chairman in
the Knesset, and was given a great honor: riding from the Tel Aviv Airport
(later to be named the Ben Gurion Airport) with David Ben Gurion,
the founder of the Jewish state himself.
Shimon Peres was as nervous as could be, sharing a car with
someone whom until then, he could hardly dare imagine meeting ... He could hardly
believe it.
But it all came to pass. And Shimon Peres, long eager to
have a conversation with Ben Gurion, remained silent
in the car for ten minutes, then twenty, and then an entire hour. Finally, when
getting out of the car, Ben Gurion suddenly said, “Mr. Trotsky was an utterly
unqualified politician!”
“Why?” Shimon Peres hesitantly asked, as Gurion
was about to shut the door.
“What is that slogan of his?” shrugged Ben Gurion. “’Neither peace, nor war’? A politician must be
decisive!” Shimon Peres remembered that message for the rest of his life. As did Konstantin Kosachev.
That Vladimir Putin has a respect for Shimon Peres bordering
on reverence is evident. At their meeting, the Russian president described
Peres as a “world-class politician.”
And we all know, in the opinion of the Russian
president, most of the great leaders are gone. There may be one or two. But beyond
Mahatma Gandhi, there
is almost no one worth mentioning.
President Vladimir Putin and one of the few statesmen
the Russian leader considers
great: President Shimon
Peres, at a dinner in Jerusalem, June 26.
It appears that for Vladimir Putin, Shimon Peres belongs in
that category.
“I remember all of our conversations,” Vladimir Putin
admitted to the president.
One wonders whether Shimon Peres can say the same of
Vladimir Putin.
