page_title: Foreign relations of Israel
section_title: Russia and the Soviet Union
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign relations of Israel / Europe / Russia and the Soviet Union
caption_attribution_description: English: The PM of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanying the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, at the 2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade
context_page_description: Israel has diplomatic relations with 162 of the 193 UN member states as of December 2019. Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. A peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel was announced on 13 August 2020, ending decades of non-recognition from UAE. Thirty-one UN member states do not recognize Israel. These include 19 of the 22 members of the Arab League: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. A further 9 are members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mali, Niger and Pakistan. Other countries which do not recognise Israel include Bhutan, Cuba and North Korea. Israel is a member of a number of United Nations and other international organisations.
  The close friendship with the United States has also been a linchpin of Israeli foreign policy for decades.
context_section_description: The Soviet Union voted in favor of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, which paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel. On 17 May 1948, on the third day of Israel's independence, the Soviet Union granted de jure recognition to the State of Israel, becoming only the second country to recognise Israel (preceded only by the United States' de facto recognition) and the first country to grant Israel de jure recognition.
  The Soviet Union and the other communist states of Eastern Europe (with the exception of Romania) cut diplomatic ties with Israel during the Six-Day War. Relations were restored in 19 October 1991, a few months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, despite the fact that hostile Arab countries such as Syria also maintain close ties with Russia. Russia is known to supply Syria with weapons.
  In September 2010, Israel and Russia signed a comprehensive military agreement that will "increase cooperation on combating terrorism" and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and signed the agreement during a ceremony in Moscow. The Russian military plans on purchasing additional Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles. Russia previously bought 12 drones from the Israel Aerospace Industries following the war in South Ossetia.
caption: Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin at the 2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade
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