Published in the Jerusalem Post, 4 November 2024
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 like 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 he 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 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 on its conclusion is titled the Kazan
Declaration. In it, the BRICS leaders devote 8 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 the Gaza Strip 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.
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 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 toward terrorist activity aimed at eliminating Israel and its people, and has nothing but unreserved condemnation for the steps Israel takes to defend itself.
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.
The magazine Newsweek 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 America as the sole superpower, and 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 after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has done so with the help of its key partner China, aided also by Iranian weapons supplied for use in 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.
However Israel
need not submit to being blackened and isolated. A closer look at the
list of BRICS members reveals the presence of Abraham Accord 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.
Published in the Jerusalem Post, and the Jerusalem Post online titled: "BRICS is no friend of Israel amid Putin's strategic vision", 4 November 2024:
