"Moscow and Tel Aviv: "Anti-Imperialism" is an Aesthetic" - Internationalist Workers’ Group (2025)

Russian president Vladimir Putin commented that “Israel is almost a Russian-speaking country” in a press release when he was asked why Russia would not be providing Iran with military aid. This may surprise some observers when Russia, which is in an alliance of convenience with Iran, didn't provide direct military support in the wake of IAF air strikes and indiscriminate missile and drone barrages primarily targeting Tehran which displaced millions and killed thousands of workers in Iran. During the “12 day war” on June 13-25th, 2025 which saw the USA act as a direct belligerent alongside Israel against Iran and carried out a coordinated attack on Iran’s Fordow’s plant with bunker buster munitions, which had minimal impact and didn't knock out Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities. Putin responded by proclaiming Russia’s historical solidarity within the Middle East, but that there's over 2 million Russians living in Israel and that Russia has already done enough. Putin also responded that Russia already defends Iran’s right to have a nuclear power program and had built reactors in Iran, have contracts to build two more and lastly that Russia hasn't evacuated diplomats, civilians and most importantly their military personnel in Iran.

For Russia their imperialist considerations are first and foremost against the US dominated western bloc. Russia only uses anti-imperialism as an aesthetic. Everywhere that the EU, or the NATO military framework goes so does the US, European imperialists powers and the IMF. Russia has been on the backfoot since the dissolution of the USSR, which despite being a super power it was never equal in strength to the USA which explains how the deep crisis of capitalism that reemerged in full force again in the 1970s led to the Warsaw Pact and USSR collapsing and not a generalized world war. Countries that have remained relatively within Russia’s orbit, which are primarily peripheral states, have experienced deepening crises and Russia has been unable to stabilize the social situations there, spinning out more crises and causing former allies to seek relations with the west. This stems from how little Russia could provide the ruling classes of states that were formerly in the USSR and some in the Middle East; this has only excelled as the Russian Federation has all but left the International arms market.

It's well known that the Israeli population ballooned by 20% almost overnight when the USSR collapsed, coastal cities such as Ashdod and some Tel Aviv suburbs have major Russian populations. Many prominent former Soviet elite and capitalist have made use of the Aliyah fund in order to transfer out and clean their billions of dollars to Israel during the privatization restructuring of the economy and eventually moved there. The direct influence of Russian speaking parties with the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party is massive. Aigdor Lieberman is best remembered for the “Lieberman Plan” which outlines ethnic cleansing through an arranged population transfer. Despite Yisrael Beiteinu exiting the Netanyahu - Smoltrich government over opposition against Orthodox parties being in the coalition Lieberman’s positions remain steadfast that there's no innocent civilians in Gaza.

The imperialist war in Gaza has propagated a genocide that's already claimed 7.2% of the population through direct and indirect military casualties. Most have been through starvation. Children make up around 39% of the casualties from the imperialist war. The war won't end since it fulfills the needs of the Israeli and US ruling class, these wars are beneficial for the Netanyahu - Smoltrich government. The government uses the Imperialist wars to keep the working class constantly activated and to give Netanyahu’s government distance from political crises, the immense housing crisis despite lifting the lid off of settler activities on the West Bank, the collapse of the military on October 7th and to keep himself and his associates out of prison on corruption charges. The US is completely dependent on Israeli intelligence and technical expertise for waging war in the region as well. The slaughter in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon have already greatly weakened Iranian appendages but the US fears that potentially Iran could get pushed too deeply into an alliance with China or further escalate the conflict in the Middle East. Which the USA is trying to free itself up for the main imperialist arena in the Pacific ocean against China.

Putin and Netanyahu have had well publicized relations, the highest point was when Netanyahu was invited to Russia to discuss arrangements to prevent them from crossing each other in Syria and to only attack each other's assets by arrangement. Israel also has a preference for Russian presence in Syria, Netanyahu understands Russia’s long held distrust for Iranian proxies in Syria and Moscow’s own specific interests independent of Iran’s despite the appearance of the two neatly aligned behind Assad’s regime. The IAF was also likely able to rapidly pinpoint Hezbollah’s positions in Syria and the SAA air defense systems due to their past cooperation with Russia and the US in combating the Islamic State. Tel Aviv wants Russia’s military presence to remain in Syria in order to act as a barricade against the Turkish aligned HTS government and setback Turkey’s imperialist interest in the region. Russian and Caspian basin energy still primarily fuels the Israeli state and their multi-fronted imperialist wars. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline supplies the majority of Israel’s imported oil energy. The pipeline carries oil extracted from Russia and Kazakhstan, the importance of this pipeline increased when sanctions placed on Russia after the war in Ukraine forced the BP Consortium and Azerbaijan State controlled Baku - Tbilisi - Ceyhan pipeline to end carrying Lukoil’s oil. Israel still imports vital petroleum supplies, such as vacuum gas, diesel and naphtha, needed for the IDF’s wars from Russia using transit countries such as Greece, Cyprus and Albania. The valuation of Russia exports to Israel in 2021 was $3.5 billion dollars and Israel has also imported Russian technology services such as Yango, which is the foreign version of Russia’s version of Google, Yandex Go. Israel also remains a major purchaser for Russia diamonds from the state company Alrosa and of Sahelian gold which Russian supported governments and rebel groups smuggle to markets in Israel, Egypt and the UAE and serves as a lifeline for Russia’s war chest.

Israeli economic and diplomatic relations have remained intact despite US and EU sanctions against Russia, or even after Moscow's words of condemnation over the mass slaughter in Gaza. The most crucial exports to Russia have been high tech and dual use commodities used for security and arms production. Despite the specifics and usual canard about these firms being world first, military second their approach is also to maintain Palestine as a weapons proving ground in order to increase their weapon sales and better integrate themselves amongst contending imperialist powers. Russia uses transit countries such as China, Uzbekistan, the Maldives, Malaysia and Taiwan to import dual technologies for making the Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 and S-500 missiles, but also jointly made US - Israeli next generation firewall software. Israel has since 2022 only ended credit insurance for Israeli firms doing business with Russia or in Russia, but there's no legislative sanctions in place.

The dimensions of international imperialism in the Middle East is a tangled web of interests, but this can't be of concern for the class conscious proletariat. Neither can support be given for any country in the imperialist arena. For Israel, they have a strong alliance with the USA due to the latter’s complete dependence on them for waging wars in the region and the damage Israel can cause to Iran. The Middle East remains of the utmost strategic importance in order for the US to retain its imperialist advantages over the world by making sure the US dollar is the currency oil is traded in. During Trump's first administration the US began the Abraham Accords, which would grant MENA states concessions, loans and other supposed investment opportunities in exchange for recognizing Israel and to further isolate Iran. Similar moves have been made by pressuring Lebanon’s new president Joseph Aoun to disarm Hezbollah, in exchange Gulf states and the West will invest in the region to absorb chronically unemployed workers who depended on the paltry alms distributed by Hezbollah. Similarly with the US proposed 10 year trusteeship over Gaza to build luxury hotels, microprocessor factories and other high tech industries on fresh mass graves.

To complicate things further, Russia and China are in a consolidating bloc of convenience with Iran, the basis of this is heavily predicated on all the before mentioned states being weighed down with western sanctions and the need to break out of the USD’s dominance. Iran and Israel have hegemonic ideologies and interests against one and the other as they both are pursuing reshaping the Middle East in their favor, which means their competing interests can't be reconciled. But Russia or China will drop a lot in terms of their current relations with Iran in being able to better their image as new prospective Imperialist hegemons. For Russia and China this can potentially ensure that the order in which wars break out puts Iran in confrontation first before opening a new front or renewed attack against Russia or China. This is despite China importing nearly 90% of deeply sanctioned Iran’s energy exports or Russia importing Shahed drones. Israel can account for the USA annually to provide $3.3 billion in military aid alone, but potentially new hegemons such as Russia and China, understand that they could also provide Israel aid. This remains possibly a main driving factor for the US constantly having to outspend rival imperialists to retain control over their strategic permanent aircraft carrier (Israel) in the Levant.

The prevalence of imperialist wars will only grow as the crisis of capitalist profits shows no signs of repairing itself. War becomes the preferred option for the nation’s capitalist over constant crisis. This will only add to the war of attrition in Ukraine, the mass slaughter in Gaza and Israel’s 7 front conflict across the Middle East against Iranian aligned militias. The international working class has no interest in any imperialist configurations or whatever maneuver their politicians are involved with, since this can only take workers off their own class terrain and place them as fodder in an imperialist war. The tempo towards a generalized world war has reached an alarming pace with remilitarization at an eye watering pace while workers are experiencing greater attacks against their living conditions and heightened repression. Only the self activity of the working class guided by a revolutionary political party as a reference point can overcome the continued imperialist wars and massacres.