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Published by BBC News (UK)
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Thursday, 28 April 2005 |
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Israel-Russia tensions “...The Soviet Union was one of the first to recognise the state of Israel in 1948. But Moscow then swiftly changed course. It aligned itself with Arab nationalist regimes and severed diplomatic relations with Israel following the 1967 six-day war, subsequently supporting Palestinian militants. This changed again, however, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. "At least covertly, the KGB and Russian foreign agents were very active in supporting the PLO and Arab militant groups in a proxy war against the West and its allies," said Andrew Jack, author of Inside Putin's Russia. "Under Putin in particular - and starting under his predecessor Boris Yeltsin - there was much more of an attempt to establish a rapprochement with Israel to establish more friendly relations with the West." He explained that much of the reasoning behind this was to do with Mr Putin's desire to be an iconic leader to Russians worldwide and have an impact on world politics...”
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