Rushed Western support for Israel ruins developing countries' commitment to Ukraine – FT

Western support for Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip has undermined attempts to build consensus with leading developing countries to condemn Russia's war against Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda with reference to a Financial Times article, quoting unnamed officials and diplomats

Details: The Financial Times noted that the reaction to Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and Israel's promise to respond to Gaza has undone months of work to make Russia a pariah for violating international law, and has provoked accusations of hypocrisy against the US and EU.

In the days following the Hamas attack, some Western diplomats were concerned that the US was lifting all restrictions for Israel to launch a full-scale attack on Gaza.

More than a dozen Western officials said that this undermined efforts, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to build consensus with leading powers in the states of Global South, such as India, Brazil and South Africa, on the need to maintain a rules-based global order.

Quote from a diplomat of a G7 country: "We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South. All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again."

Details: Some US diplomats have privately expressed concern that the administration of US President Joe Biden has not recognised that its broad support for Israel could push away much of the Global South.

Quote from the G7 senior diplomat: "What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise, we lose all our credibility."

More details: Just four weeks before Hamas attacked Israel, leaders of the US, EU and Western allies attended the G20 summit in New Delhi and called on developing countries to condemn Russia's attacks on Ukrainian civilians to ensure respect for the UN Charter and international law.

Now, Western officials said they were hearing the same argument in response to demands to condemn Israel's retaliatory attack on the Gaza Strip and its decision to cut off water, electricity and gas supplies to the region.

In recent days, Russia has been trying to pass a UN Security Council resolution condemning violence against civilians in the conflict without specifically mentioning Hamas. The Council rejected its resolution on Monday.

Quote from a senior EU official: "I mean, let’s be frank. This is a gift from heaven for Russia. I think it’s damaging what’s happening . . . because Russia is exploiting the crisis and saying, ‘Look, the global order that has been built after World War II is not working for you,’ and addressing 1 billion inhabitants in the Middle East or in the Arab world."

More details: The UN Security Council resolution proposed by Russia received the support of only four countries – China, the United Arab Emirates, Mozambique and Gabon. However, many Western diplomats fear that the amended Russian resolution may not get the nine votes needed to pass. The United States, the United Kingdom or France could veto it, which would give Moscow a propaganda victory.

Quote from a senior Western diplomat: "We have to prevent Russia . . . supported by the Chinese . . . taking the initiative to use this against us. There’s a risk that at the next vote in the [UN] General Assembly on supporting Ukraine, we’ll see a big explosion in the number of abstentions."

Details: One Western foreign minister noted that Russia is interested in the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because of its distracting role and in order to change the global narrative.

Quote from the minister: "Europe has to hold the line here. We were a bit of a mess to begin with, but I think we’re better coordinated now in terms of defending fundamental rights and making sure we see both sides."

Background:

• Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the provision of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip does not affect the EU's position on condemning the actions of the Hamas terrorist group, which attacked Israel on 7 October.
• On Monday, the EU announced the organisation of a "humanitarian air bridge" to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip amid the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
• At the same time, the EU has tripled the amount of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip to €75 million euros.

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