BRICS is no friend of Israel amid Putin's strategic vision - opinion

From October 22 to 24, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, as host of the 2024 BRICS summit, welcomed 36 world leaders to Russia. 

This conference marked the first gathering of the BRICS group after its expansion to include, alongside the original five members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), four new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

Other countries attended as partners or aspiring new members. 

The expanded body brings together countries representing approximately 41% of the global population and 24% of the global GDP. 

BRICS aims to promote cooperation among major emerging economies and increase their economic and political influence. 

Its primary purpose is to provide an alternative to Western-led institutions such as the G7 economic grouping. 

It seeks to reduce reliance on the US dollar in international trade. The group’s aims conform precisely to Putin’s domestic and international aspirations, which he does not seek to conceal. 

At an open meeting on October 22, 2022 the Russian president said: “The unipolar world is being relegated into the past... The West is unable to rule humanity single-handedly, and the majority of nations no longer want to put up with this... A future world arrangement is taking shape before our eyes.”

BRICS is the perfect instrument for assisting Putin to reach his goal.

Given the inclusion of Iran and South Africa in its membership, the viscerally anti-Israel stance it has adopted is not, perhaps, surprising. 

The summit was held in the Russian city of Kazan, so the statement issued upon its conclusion is titled the Kazan Declaration. 

In it, the BRICS leaders devote eight of its 35 paragraphs to denouncing Israel in one way or another.

In paragraph 30, for example, without any reference to the horrifying events of October 7, 2023, or even one mention of the word “Hamas,” they express “grave concern” at the escalation of violence in Gaza and West Bank, which they ascribe to “the Israeli military offensive, which led to mass killing and injury of civilians, forced displacement and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.”  

They call for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages and detainees “from both sides,” drawing no distinction between civilians illegally seized, and people imprisoned for their crimes.

Denouncing 'Israeli attacks'

Providing no evidence to support the charge, they denounce “Israeli attacks against humanitarian operations.” 

Unsurprisingly they approve of the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in “the legal proceedings instituted by South Africa against Israel.” They call for a two-state solution based on what they term the “borders of June 1967” and for the “State of Palestine” to be granted full membership in the United Nations.

In paragraph 31, the declaration turns to Lebanon. Here, BRICS members, without once mentioning Hezbollah or making any reference to its ceaseless bombardment of northern Israel starting on October 8, 2023, “condemn the loss of civilian lives and the immense damage to civilian infrastructure resulting from attacks by Israel in residential areas in Lebanon and call for immediate cessation of military acts.”  

They move on to condemn, among other things, what they term “the premeditated terrorist act of detonating handheld communication devices in Beirut on 17 September 2024,” which, they claim, “resulted in the loss of life and injury of dozens of civilians.” 

They make no mention of the fact that the devices in question had been issued only to Hezbollah members and certain other VIPs like Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani.

The Kazan Declaration makes it clear that BRICS turns a blind eye to terrorist activity aimed at eliminating Israel and its people and has nothing but unreserved condemnation for the steps Israel takes to defend itself.

Putin's personal triumph 

The summit was undoubtedly a personal triumph for Putin. Ostracized and sanctioned by the West, here he was able to straddle the world stage, host to a large gathering of global leaders. 

At Kazan, Putin demonstrated that he has been rehabilitated personally by a large section of the world and that an alternative to Western dominance is a real possibility. 

The topics discussed included how emerging economies could cooperate more fully across a variety of fields.

In addition, it set the ball rolling on one of Putin’s pet projects – a new international payments system that would undercut the dominance of the US dollar.

NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE believes that the overarching ambition of BRICS leaders such as Putin and China’s President XI Jinping is to accelerate and bolster the shift away from the United States as the sole superpower toward a multipolar world that counterbalances the US and its Western allies.

It points out that the Russian economy has managed to readjust following the sanctions imposed on it after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

It has done so with the help of its key partner, China, also aided by Iranian weapons supplied for use against Ukraine. 

Putin is now seeking to expand trade with India through a strategic partnership, particularly in the areas of energy resources and defense.

“These partnerships,” says Newsweek, “are Putin’s multipolar vision in practice, undermining the US-led West’s ability to exercise its power and enforce its desired global norms through sanctions and other economic and diplomatic levers at its disposal.” His overall aim is to dismantle the US-led transatlantic and global order so that Russia can exercise greater power regionally and internationally.

Allied to the bid by BRICS for economic, financial, and political independence from the West is a rejection of the principle, staunchly upheld by the US and most of the free world, that Israel has the right to defend itself against the genocidal and illegal terrorism of Iran and its axis of evil. 

In fact, with Iran and South Africa as leading members, it is doubtful if BRICS as an organization regards Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Iranian-supported militias in Iraq and Syria as terrorist bodies at all. 

It is this myopia that underlies its root and branch condemnation of Israel.

Israel should not be threatened 

HOWEVER, ISRAEL need not submit to being blackened and isolated. 

A closer look at the list of BRICS members reveals the presence of Abraham Accords partner, the UAE, while hovering in the wings, invited to join, but as yet uncertain, is Saudi Arabia. 

Other countries enjoying good relations with Israel, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, are also possible new members. 

Putin himself has a nuanced attitude toward Israel – a position that could be affected by the result of the forthcoming US presidential election. 

Self-interest could well override any demand by Iran, South Africa, or Turkey (another possible new member) for a permanent anti-Israel stance.

The writer is the Middle East correspondent for Eurasia Review. His latest book is Trump and the Holy Land:  2016-2020. Follow him at: www.a-mid-east-journal.blogspot.com