Vladimir Putin's message last Friday to the Israeli leaders on the passing of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spoke about Sharon's "high personal qualities," his efforts "to defend Israel's interests," the "respect he enjoyed with his compatriots," and his cutting a "figure of authority on the world stage." President Putin dispatched State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin to Sharon's funeral.
The language of Putin's condolences and the level of Russia's representation are consonant with what has been heard from Washington and London. Sharon's life and legacy were also extensively and generally positively covered by state-run Russian TV. It is particularly striking because of Sharon's reputation as a tough military commander and a hawkish political leader.
These features, however, may be the key to understanding the respect with which President Putin and Russian government officials usually reserve for the State of Israel. They see the Israelis as serious in both word and deed, united by a strong sense of national solidarity, resolute and confident in their defense of the national interest, capable of standing up to criticism from much of the rest of the world, and—crucially—led by weathered individuals not emasculated by political correctness.
To quite a few Russian gosudarstvenniki, supporters of a strong state, Israel is the ideal in terms of the cohesion existing between the state and the nation, the effectiveness of and coordination among its military, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, and the defense of its interests in the regional and global context. They also appreciate strong leadership when they see it. For Russia to approach that ideal, however, strong personal leadership is not enough. Rather, the country needs to start building a nation. Greater civic solidarity in exchange for more government accountability would be a good start.
