According to military professor Marko Palokanka, Russia is a much stronger opponent for the United States than Iran.
The US and its allies helped Israel repel an Iranian missile and drone attack over the weekend.
The US Air Force shot down almost half of the 150 drones sent by Iran, the newspaper Washington Post says. The damage in Israel was very minimal.
At the same time, Russia is constantly carrying out airstrikes in Ukraine, killing civilians. These attacks are not repelled by Western countries, even though Ukraine is also an ally of the West.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi pointed to this disparity on Sunday.
– The whole world can see what real protection is. Looks like it’s possible. And the whole world will see that Israel was not alone in its defense, Zelenskyi said.
Why does the West directly protect Israel, but Ukraine only receives arms aid?
The question is answered by a military professor at the National Defense University Marko Palokangas from the Institute of Military Art.
“Political decision”
Basically, the decision is political, Professor Palokangas estimates.
– It’s about political decisions of principle, how to support allies and how to limit support, Palokangas assessed in a telephone interview with .
Western countries, especially the United States and Israel, have had an alliance relationship that has lasted for decades. The countries have a bilateral defense treaty, which the United States and Ukraine do not.
– If the United States had left Israel completely to its own devices, it would have betrayed this bilateral alliance agreement and defense agreement, says Palokangas.
Other countries that signed a defense agreement with the United States would have started to doubt whether the United States would protect them in a real situation.
Russia is stronger than Iran
According to Palokanka, the other side of the decision is military. Russia and Iran are very different opponents.
Russia is significantly larger and militarily more powerful than Iran. Russia has a nuclear weapon, while Iran does not yet have one.
– For many actors who support Ukraine, standing up against Russia is behind a much higher threshold than standing up against Iran, says Palokangas.
According to Palokanka, certain actors in the Western community are trying to limit their military involvement so that the war does not expand.
Countering Iran’s missiles could even have prevented the war from expanding, since the damage in Israel was so small. Israel now does not necessarily feel it necessary to strike back with enormous force.
Countering Russian missiles, on the other hand, is estimated in the West to increase the risk that the war would expand into a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
It would be more difficult to protect Ukraine
According to military professor Palokanka, it is easier to protect Israel from airstrikes than Ukraine because it is geographically much smaller.
Iran’s distance from Israel also facilitates the prevention of attacks.
Cruise missiles and drones took quite a long time to reach Israeli airspace. Western countries have many bases in and around the countries located between Israel and Iran.
Still, repelling the Iranian attack showed that the West had the ability to repel Russian airstrikes as well if it wanted to.
– The Western community and individual states have considerable capabilities, says Palokangas.
In the video below, ‘s journalist Elsa Osipova sheds light on the hatred between Iran and Israel.