COVID-19 Aid Offers Israel an Opportunity for Regional Reconciliation

Israel is using COVID-19 humanitarian support to conduct diplomacy with Syria, and the success of that strategy could prompt similar offers and efforts to thaw Israel's difficult relationship with Lebanon. As part of a recent prisoner exchange with Syria, Israel purchased an undisclosed amount of Russian Sputnik V vaccines for Syria, which has been unable to secure and distribute doses of COVID-19 vaccine due to its crashing currency and battered healthcare system. The deal followed nearly a year of quiet humanitarian cooperation between Hamas and Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now seen Israel allow limited doses of Sputnik V vaccines to enter the Gaza Strip. ...