The bloody war in Gaza is enabling the two repressive autocracies to harness a wave of sympathy for the Palestinians and to position themselves as champions of humanitarian values and peace.
Distancing themselves from Israel, Russia and China have since focused on framing the war as part of a global power struggle against the U.S., with Israel reduced to little more than Washington’s regional pawn.
Putin, whose forces have flattened several Ukrainian cities, said in an address last week that his “fists clench and eyes tear up” as he watches the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Russian soldiers in Ukraine are fighting the same American “root of evil,” he said, and their battles “will decide the fate of Russia, and of the entire world, including the future of the Palestinian people.”
China’s rhetoric has been more subdued, with Xi Jinping avoiding public comments on the Middle East since the conflict erupted. Chinese state media, however, has been filled with commentary blasting U.S. “hypocrisy” and “warmongering” in the Middle East, and contrasting it with Beijing’s demands for an immediate cease-fire and Palestinian statehood.
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