Putin's Misleading Claims on Russia-Israel Ties Debunked

John Helmer, a veteran foreign correspondent, debunks Vladimir Putin's 2019 assertion that Russia and Israel form a 'true common family' and that Israel is a 'Russian-speaking country.' Putin claimed nearly 2 million Russian speakers live in Israel, but Helmer notes that the Russian diaspora in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the US, Brazil, and Germany is larger. Only about 400,000 Israeli Russians hold Russian passports, and most have not renewed them. In the 2018 Russian presidential election, only 12,000 Israeli Russians voted, with Putin receiving an estimated 8,640 votes—trailing behind Finland, Canada, Italy, Germany, and Greece. During the Gaza genocide, Russia delivered 827 tonnes of food aid to Palestinians via Egypt but sold 1.6 million tonnes of grain to Israel commercially, making Russia Israel's top grain supplier. In April 2026, Israel barred the Russian bulker Panormitis from unloading 28,000 tonnes of grain at Haifa after Ukraine threatened sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry protested, but Putin publicly supported Trump's Gaza redevelopment plan, suggesting Tony Blair as head of an international administration. Helmer concludes that Putin's rationale for supporting the Russian 'common family' in Israel is a fabrication—statistically, politically, and ideologically—and that his support is personal.