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Source: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/israel-russia-strategic-ties-ukraine.html
Israel-Russia Ties Strong Despite Ukraine
(Al Monitor) Paul J. Saunders - Israel decided not to vote on a March 27 UN General Assembly resolution on the situation in Crimea. Israel was far from alone. Some 93 countries did not support the resolution and just 100 supported it. The Israeli government's unwillingness to confront Moscow over Crimea makes sense, given Israel's generally cooperative relationship with Russia based on growing economic ties, substantial tourism (600,000 Russian tourists visited Israel last year), and similar approaches to combating Islamic extremist terrorism. Israel's attitude is widely regarded as having contributed to then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to suspend the delivery of already-contracted S-300 missiles to Iran in 2009. For Israel, Russia has too many connections to the Middle East - in Syria and Iran, with the Palestinians, and increasingly with Egypt too - to be safely ignored, much less gratuitously annoyed. The writer, executive director of the Center for the National Interest, was a State Department Senior Advisor during the George W. Bush administration.