Stephen Sestanovich reads the tea leaves:
These days, Russians talk about Israel as a high-tech center that can partner with them in modernizing their military and their industry, so it's a country that they see as having potential points of common interest. Russian policymakers also like that Israelis are prepared to defy international public opinion, just as Russians are. That creates a further affinity, but it's not an affinity that's been very well developed in the twenty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russians keep talking about this as a relationship that ought to be more successful than it is. Ten years ago, Putin was one of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's sympathizers in putting down the Second Intifada, and people thought of the Russian-Israeli relationship as one that was finally going to develop. Ten years have passed and it's hardly developed at all, except a little commercially.
Michael Koplow thinks a cozier alliance would be a bad idea:
The question for me is whether this is a good idea for Israel geostrategically once you set aside the domestic political benefits, and my answer is no. To begin with, as Elise Labott points out, Israel and Russia do not see eye to eye on many foreign policy issues these days. The two countries are working at cross purposes when it comes to Iran and Syria. … At some point, the closer relationship with Russia is going to come to a head, and it will be easier if there are fewer messy entanglements at that point.
Zack Beauchamp wonders if this is part of Bibi's attempt to get some breathing room from Obama:
What this suggests is that Washington’s ability to pressure Israel is directly dependent on the degree to which Israel relies on American financial and political support. Cut Israel off completely and it’ll find new friends, perhaps ones less interested in nudging Israel towards a deal with its Arab neighbors. It’s true that those new friends might not support Israel as fully as the U.S. does, but it’s not clear that this discrepancy would be enough to force Israel to accede to American terms. Thus, even in a hypothetical world of a completely compliant Congress and President, it’s not remotely obvious that cutting Israel off would make a peace deal more likely. It could even have the opposite effect.
(Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference at the Israeli leader's Jerusalem residence on June 25, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel. President Putin is on his first Middle East tour for seven years beginning with a trip to Jerusalem today. Talks on the crisis in Syria and Iran's nuclear plans will form part of the talks between Putin and Israeli leaders. By Jim Hollander – Pool / Getty Images)
The Dish 