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World Jewish News
Russian mass media: 'our man' Liberman frightens Americans
07.05.2009
Russian Internet resources depict the head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a real Soviet man and put hopes towards his strengthening Moscow's positions in the Near East as a counter to the United States.
A number of Russian Internet resources paid attention to the fact that Head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'Soviet-born' Avigdor Liberman had been found in American Time magazine's list of top 100 most influential people in the world published at the end of the previous week. Many web sites that reported on this issue note, "he is the only Israeli politician who entered this prestigious
list on an equal basis with the leaders of USA, Britain, France and Germany".
But some major Russian resources have gone beyond short news items and published detailed articles devoted to the Israeli Russian-speaking Minister. In some cases, his 'Soviet origin' has been emphasized as well as the fact that Liberman enjoys the support of Israeli emigrants from the former Soviet Union, since he is himself such an immigrant. Other sites have tried to envision the activities of the Foreign Minister in the context of the USA-Russia confrontation for the influence in the
Near East.
Thus, one of the biggest Runet resources Utro.ru calls Liberman a 'phenomenon of Israeli politics'. According to the author's explanation, "Out of more than a million Israelis born in the Soviet Union, he has achieved the highest social status. In parliamentary elections, his party Yisrael Beiteinu (Hebrew: Israel is our home) won almost 400,000 votes. This ensured it 15 mandates, with more than 10 being the votes of emigrates from the former Soviet Union. It is no coincidence that 8 parliamentarians of this party out of 15 are Russian-speaking Israelis. Yisrael Beiteinu is the second large party in the new
ruling coalition. Its 5 representatives hold ministerial posts, and three of them are Soviet-born."
Further, Utro.ru tries to show its readers that the Israeli Minister is one of us and his family's past does not differ too much from life stories of millions of other former Soviet citizens: "Avigdor Liberman himself spent first 20 years of his life in Moldova. His father Lev Yankelevich, who died two years ago, was a veteran of the Soviet Army, fought in battles for Rostov, survived German captivity thanks to giving his name as Russian soldier Makar Manchenko, served in Austria after the liberation. Uncle of the Israeli Foreign Minister Wolf (Velvl) Liberman died of wounds received in the battle of Stalingrad and was buried in the Northern Caucasus." Thereby, the details that do not match an overall picture are dropped; these are Lev Liberman's participation in the activities of Bucharest and Bessarabia Zionist organizations in the pre-war period, departure of his second brother Iosif to Eretz Israel in 1934, exile of the future Israeli Minister's parents to Siberia in 1949.
In its turn, the Agency of political news (APN) considers the extension of influence of the Head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the perspective of the traditional rivalry between Moscow and Washington: "Americans did not like both statements of the 'Russian Minister' concerning negotiations with Palestinians and his aspiration for regulating strategic partnership with Russia including the field of military-technical cooperation. All the more, after Georgian adventure in South Ossetia, the United States demanded from the previous Israeli government the stiffening of regulations for military technologies'
export to Russia. But in spite of this fact, Liberman publicly stated in March of this year: "I have always said that relations between Israel and Russia should come to the level of strategic partnership. I suppose it to be even more
topical nowadays than before." He noted that it also concerned military-technical cooperation: "Israel has got something to suggest to Russia in this field too - from electronic components of fighters to robot planes."
The APN emphasizes that "Already, after assuming office of the foreign minister, Liberman has become the first Israeli statesman who declared the necessity of his country's participation in the Moscow Conference on the Near East. Until then, for several years, representatives of Israel avoided Russia's suggestions to participate in this forum. Moreover, Liberman announced that he would personally arrive for this event in the Russian capital."
The authors confirm: "The leader of the 'Russian' Party Yisrael Beiteinu enjoying the support of most Israelis coming from the former Soviet Union has, in fact, always stood for close relations with Moscow. According to the
recollections of the first Russian Ambassador in Israel Aleksandr Bovin, it was he who organized the first visit of present Prime-Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Moscow in March of 1997, while being in a post as the general director of the head of government' ministry. At the same time, Liberman was one of those who initiated the creation of an energetic alliance between two countries involving
Turkey. It was a question of export of Russian gas through the territory of Israel to the countries of South Asia and the Far East."
Finally, the APN comes to the conclusions of geopolitical scale: now, the United States fear that usually obedient Israel can get out of control when one of the most influential politicians in the world born in the USSR and oriented to strategical partnership with Russia has inherited the helm of the state's foreign policy."
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