By Jorge Liboreiro
The Middle East has once again caught the world’s attention, keeping us all on the edge of our seats, wondering if our worst predictions are hours away from becoming true.
Over the weekend, Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles against Israel in retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. The barrage changed the rules in the long-running shadow war between the two nations, as it marked the first time Teheran targeted Israeli soil. Officials in Jerusalem quickly went on record to vow retaliation, without saying how or when this might happen.
The prospect of a tit-for-tat at the very heart of the Middle East sent chills down the spine of Western allies, who, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, have been urging maximum restraint to prevent regional actors from sparking a wider conflict that no one could then control. In Brussels, Josep Borrell convened an extraordinary meeting of foreign affairs ministers to fine-tune the EU’s collective response, express support for Israel and promise stricter sanctions on Iran, which the country has aptly managed to evade time and time again.
“The region is at the edge of the abyss,” Borrell said. “We have to move away from it.”
The escalation overshadowed a special summit of EU leaders, initially conveyed to be a head-first reflection of the bloc’s economic health and potential solutions to beef up its competitiveness. Instead, heads of state and government spent the first day wrapped in a discussion about Iran, Israel, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Turkey.
It was then that Volodymyr Zelenskyy took the floor (virtually) to make a point that few, to say none, around the table wanted to hear.
“Here in Ukraine, in our part of Europe, unfortunately, we do not have the level of defence that we all saw in the Middle East a few days ago,” he said. “We are still convincing that we need to protect Europe from ballistic missiles and ‘Shahed’ (drones), from cruise missiles and bombs, as it happened in the skies of Israel and other countries in the region.”
“Our Ukrainian sky and the sky of our neighbours deserve the same security,” he added. “All lives are equally valuable.”
Zelenskyy was referring to the fact that, over the weekend, the armed forces of the US, the UK and France had helped Israel repel the Iranian barrage and shoot down drones. The picture of fast, effective assistance left Kyiv dismayed, as the war-torn country had desperately pleaded with NATO to provide cover against Russian airstrikes. The calls for a “no-fly zone” were categorically rejected by the alliance, arguing that if a member state were to neutralise incoming missiles, it would enter into confrontation with Russia and trigger Article 5 of collective defence.
“NATO is, and will remain, not a party to the conflict in Ukraine,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated earlier this month.
Where was this logic in the Israel-Iran conflict? The fears of a direct showdown did not give Washington, London and Paris pause for thought: when they saw their partner nation come under attack, they moved to assist without hesitation, deploying ships and jets to the nearby area. Bolstered by external aid and its high-tech army, Israel managed to intercept 99% of the Iranian barrage, an impressive feat by any standard.
In the case of Ukraine, the approach has been a mix of “whatever it takes” and “do it yourself.” Western allies have supplied Kyiv with vast amounts of weapons and ammunition – some cutting-edge, some from the Soviet era – but the actual work has been left entirely to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. After more than two years of gruelling invasion, this policy shows its limitations. With dwindling donations and fewer soldiers, Ukraine struggles to repel Russian rockets and drones, which in recent weeks have targeted residential buildings and energy infrastructure, killing dozens.
No war is identical but comparisons are inevitable. For Zelenskyy, the action in Israel is an example of a double standard for it “demonstrated how truly effective unity in defending against terror can be when it is based on sufficient political will,” a comment that suggests Western nations lacked grit to face up to Russia, a much more formidable adversary than Iran.
“European skies could have received the same level of protection long ago if Ukraine had received similar full support from its partners in intercepting drones and missiles,” he said. “Terror must be defeated completely and everywhere, not more in some places and less in others.”
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A sky worth protecting19/4/2024, 11:30