Putin Calls Gaza Crisis “Direct Threat” To Russia’s Security Interests; Merkel Condemns Anti-Israel Protests

At a moment the United States is blocking a UN Security Council meeting and statement on Gaza, delaying it further to next week given Israel shows no signs that it’s ready for ceasefire talks following an earlier overture from Hamas, multiple world leaders have issued their own statements demanding “urgent de-escalation” and have called for ceasefire, particularly French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s latest statement Friday, being initially reported by Sky News Arabic, appeared especially forceful, calling the crisis a “direct threat” to Russian interests in the region.

He said the “current sharp escalation in Israeli-Palestinian conflict poses a direct threat to Russia’s security interests,” according to a translation. This after yesterday Putin along with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an end to the fighting.

At least 130 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 30 children, and close to 1,000 wounded since Monday, while six Israeli civilians, including two children, have died from the Hamas attacks.

Here’s more on Putin’s words from regional media…

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that the current escalation between Israel and Palestine poses a direct threat to Russia’s security.

Holding a meeting with the Russian Security Council, Putin suggested discussing the situation in Jerusalem and Gaza Strip prior to the agreed agenda.

“I would like to ask my colleagues to comment on the current situation in the Middle East, I mean the escalated Palestinian-Israeli conflict – this is happening in the immediate vicinity of our borders and directly affects our security interests,” he said.

Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday issued a statement which appeared a show of strong support from Israel’s operations in Gaza, which as of Thursday night has included ground troops in operations at the border and over one hundred warplanes as well as tank fire.

“Chancellor decidedly condemns the ongoing rocket attacks on Israel, these are terrorist attacks … Nothing justifies these acts of terrorism. The rocket attacks have to be ceased immediately, the German government supports Israel’s right to self-defense,” a spokesperson for the Chancellor said.

Angela Merkel condemns anti-Semitic protests in Germany and adds her support to Israel amid escalating military tensions with Hamas in the Gaza Strip https://t.co/XxA9a9NDwM

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) May 14, 2021

And controversially the ongoing anti-Israel protests which have popped up in German cities this week were addressed, and were linked in the statement anti-Semitism:

“Here in Germany, people are taking to the streets to protest against Israel’s policies. They can do it peacefully, this is natural in our democracy. However, those who use these protests to espouse antisemitism are abusing the right of assembly. Our democracy will not stand for antisemitic rallies,” Seibert added.

Apparently some among the protest groups in places like Bonn, Munster and Gelsenkirchen actually sought to vandalize or outright attack synagogues, according to European reports.