Short answer: No, Vladimir Putin does not support Israel, at least not since October 2023. Russia maintained a working, transactional relationship with Israel before the Gaza war (regular Putin-Netanyahu calls, coordination on Syria), but since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, Putin has criticized Israel's military response, hosted Hamas delegations in Moscow, had Russia condemn Israel's June 2025 strikes on Iran as illegal, and Russia has voted at the UN in ways that avoid backing Israel's position. He and Netanyahu still speak by phone on practical matters, notably the return of Russian-Israeli hostages, but Putin is not a supporter of Israel; he is a pragmatic actor balancing ties with Israel, Iran, and Hamas. As of August 2026, this remains the clearest read of his record.
What Vladimir Putin has actually said and done
- October 2023 (within days of October 7): After Hamas's attack, Putin expressed concern over civilian deaths and called for a Palestinian state, and days later, at an October 13 CIS summit, said Israel has the right to defend itself, while also criticizing U.S. Middle East policy and reiterating Russian support for a Palestinian state, according to Al Jazeera.
- December 10, 2023: Netanyahu publicly criticized Putin for what he called Russia's "anti-Israel" stance and its ties to Iran, reflecting the deteriorating tone between the two leaders after October 7, reported Haaretz.
- January 19, 2024: A Hamas delegation led by Moussa Abu Marzouq visited Moscow, its second such visit since October 7, meeting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin's Middle East envoy. Putin himself did not meet the delegation, per U.S. News and confirmed by TASS.
- June 10, 2024: At the UN Security Council, Russia abstained rather than backing Resolution 2735, which welcomed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release proposal that Israel had accepted; the resolution passed 14-0 with Russia the sole abstention, according to the UN's own meeting record.
- February 15, 2025: Russian-Israeli hostage Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov was released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with two other hostages; Netanyahu later thanked Putin by phone for Russia's help securing the release, reported the Times of Israel.
- April 16, 2025: Putin met freed hostage Sasha Troufanov and his mother at the Kremlin and told Troufanov to "thank Hamas" for his release, praising Hamas's leadership for the release as a "humanitarian act," according to the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel.
- May 6, 2025: Putin and Netanyahu spoke by phone marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany; Netanyahu thanked Putin for helping secure Troufanov's release, but the relationship remained transactional rather than a show of Russian support for Israeli policy, per the Times of Israel.
- June 19, 2025: Putin and Xi Jinping issued a joint statement condemning Israel's strikes on Iran as violations of the UN Charter and international law. Putin had expressed condolences to Iran over civilian casualties six days earlier, in a June 13, 2025 phone call with Iran's president. Russia offered no military support to Iran but sided with it diplomatically over Israel, according to Al Jazeera and The Hill.
The bigger picture
Putin's Russia is not a supporter of Israel. Before October 7, 2023, Russia positioned itself as a pragmatic broker across the Middle East: Putin held periodic phone calls and in-person meetings with Netanyahu over the years, largely to manage deconfliction in Syria and to protect Russia's large ethnic-Russian and Russian-Israeli population (roughly a million Israelis have Russian roots). That pre-war baseline of cordial, transactional contact is real, but it was never rooted in ideological or religious sympathy for Israel or the Jewish people; it was strategic.
Since October 7, 2023, the balance has tipped further away from Israel. Putin has criticized Israel's Gaza campaign directly, Russia's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly hosted Hamas political delegations in Moscow, and Russia has voted at the UN in ways that stopped short of endorsing Israel's position, abstaining rather than supporting the U.S.-backed ceasefire resolution. When Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear and military sites in June 2025, Putin publicly condemned the Israeli-led strikes as illegal alongside China, while offering Iran only rhetorical, not military, backing.
The one place the relationship still functions is narrow and humanitarian: the Kremlin has taken credit for pressing Hamas to release Russian-Israeli dual nationals held hostage, including Sasha Troufanov, and Netanyahu has thanked Putin for that help in subsequent calls. But in that same April 2025 meeting, Putin told the freed hostage to thank Hamas, not Israel, for the release, underlining that Moscow treats Hamas as a legitimate interlocutor. On the question of any personal or ancestral connection to Israel or Jewish identity, there is no credible, sourced evidence of that; online claims about his family name are unsubstantiated speculation, not something a reputable outlet has confirmed, so no such claim is made here. Russia has not joined the BDS movement and maintains full diplomatic and trade relations with Israel, but that is a far cry from support.
The bottom line
Putin does not support Israel. He maintains a working relationship with Netanyahu built on narrow, transactional interests, mainly securing the release of Russian-Israeli hostages, but on the substance of the war, Russia has criticized Israel's military campaigns, hosted Hamas officials in Moscow, avoided backing Israel-favorable UN resolutions, and condemned Israel's 2025 strikes on Iran as illegal. This is the posture of a geopolitical balancer protecting Russian interests across the region, not a friend of Israel.
Wear where you actually stand
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
