Are there two simultaneous wars between allies pushing the West to its limits?: Israeli conflict causes global interest in Ukraine war to wane

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For more than a year and a half, the war in Ukraine has dominated global headlines – and in many cases the foreign policies of world powers. Hamas’s massacres in Israel early Saturday a week ago and the threat of escalation in the Gaza Strip suddenly pushed Russia’s brutal war of invasion off the front lines.

Hamas’ major attack on Israel, which has already caused thousands of deaths and injuries on both sides, was also described as a “gift from Hamas to Vladimir Putin.” On the day of the Hamas massacres, October 7, Putin celebrated his 71st birthday.

As a Google Trends analysis confirms, the conflict in the Middle East has since significantly shifted Western attention to Ukraine. The people in Russia are already happy with this.

Is Israel Displacing Ukraine?

Brussels and Washington assure Kiev of their continued solidarity and support. In Russia, people are now mocking the fact that “the nightmare of Zelensky and his accomplices is becoming reality,” according to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. It is said disparagingly that the West is already forgetting Ukraine.

The conflict in the Middle East is welcome for Washington, says the author: “The United States now has a very convenient excuse to hand over the ‘failed Ukraine’ to the European Union by pretending that the United States has no interest in it at all had to do. .” Of course, the West will not leave Ukraine ‘abruptly, but gradually’.

Bad timing for Kiev

For Ukraine, whose months-long counter-offensive has had no effect, the Israel crisis comes at an extremely inopportune time. Kiev still needs more weapons and money. This “tests the patience of its allies for Ukraine,” the Washington Post analyzes, “as the conflict drags on into a new winter.” At home, the situation is not getting any easier for President Volodymyr Selensky (45).

Washington reiterates that there is no contradiction between aid and weapons for Ukraine and Israel. “We can do both and we will do both,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (70) told the media in Brussels last week.

Two wars at once?

The US, itself complaining of ammunition shortages during phases of the war in Ukraine, has already begun supplying urgently needed ammunition and military equipment to Israel. Jerusalem needs air-launched, precision-guided missiles and supplies of interceptors for its Iron Dome system – military equipment that Ukraine could also urgently need.

In addition, the US has halted all military aid to Kiev until at least mid-November – as a concession to conservatives to avoid a US government shutdown with an emergency budget.

Zelensky harassed

The eyes of the world are currently focused on Israel and the invasion of Gaza that is about to begin. It remains for Ukrainian President Zelensky to appeal to the perseverance of his people.

Since October 7, it has become quieter in Kiev and fewer foreign visitors are received. In his evening address to the nation late on Sunday, Zelenskiy also had to repeat what he had said many times – as if he was running out of options: “Ukraine knows how to be strong,” Zelenskiy said. ‘And we will stand. We have to persevere and win. And we will.”

Source: Blick