Russian tricolor in Tel Aviv and Hamas in Moscow: two TASS news items side by side that cannot be read separately

These days, the Russian agency TASS itself placed two news items side by side, which sound not just strange for Israel, but provocative. In one news item, a Hamas delegation is negotiating in Moscow with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister. In another, in Tel Aviv, inside Israel, Russian-speaking “compatriots” are unfurling a huge Russian tricolor with an area of more than 600 square meters in honor of Russia Day.

Formally, these are two different publications. One is about diplomacy. The second is about celebration, songs, dances, and “Russian” treats. But in reality, they form one picture that is impossible not to see if you live in Israel after October 7 and understand what Russian aggression means for Ukraine.

Moscow hosts Hamas. Hamas thanks Moscow. And two days later, a giant Russian flag is unfurled in Tel Aviv.

That’s the whole context.

Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry, Hamas: who talked to whom

On June 10, 2026, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko met in Moscow with Mousa Abu Marzouk, Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau. This is not a rumor, not a retelling from social networks, and not someone’s emotional assessment. The Russian official information flow presented this meeting as a normal diplomatic contact.

The report stated that the situation in Gaza, the ceasefire regime, humanitarian aid, infrastructure restoration, and the political settlement of the “Palestinian question” were discussed. That is, Moscow does not hide: it is conducting a direct political dialogue with Hamas representatives.

And then the key phrase was heard. Mousa Abu Marzouk thanked Russia for “diplomatic efforts and support for the Palestinians in resolving the Palestinian question”.

For Israel, this is not an abstract phrase. Hamas is not a “political movement somewhere far away.” It is a terrorist organization that on October 7 carried out a massacre, kidnapped people, killed families, burned houses, and turned civilians into hostages and human shields. When representatives of this structure thank Moscow for support, the Israeli public has the right to ask: what exactly is Russia’s role in this region today and on whose side is its real political sympathy?

There is no need to invent loud accusations here. It is enough to put the facts side by side.

Hamas representatives came to Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry received them.

Hamas publicly thanked Russia.

This is already enough for any stories about “neutral Russia” to sound like a bad propaganda joke.

\Tel Aviv, Russia Day, and a 600 square meter flag

On June 12, 2026, on “Russia Day,” an event with a huge Russian tricolor took place in Tel Aviv. According to TASS, Russian-speaking “compatriots” unfurled a Russian flag with an area of more than 600 square meters. This happened in one of Tel Aviv’s parks. Publications mention “dozens of participants, songs, dances, and traditional Russian treats.”

On paper — a celebration.

In reality — a demonstration of the symbol of a state that two days earlier hosted Hamas representatives in Moscow.

And here begins the main point. After October 7, the Russian flag in Israel can no longer be perceived only as a “cultural symbol” for part of the Russian-speaking community. Especially when there is news nearby that Hamas thanks Russia for support. Especially when Ukraine has been showing the world for many years how Moscow uses “compatriots,” “culture,” “memory,” “holidays,” and “common history” as a soft shell for hard political influence.

For those who still pretend that this is just a flag, the question is very simple: if the day before some country had received representatives of terrorists in its Foreign Ministry who killed Israelis, and then its giant flag was unfurled in Tel Aviv, would this also be called an innocent celebration?

Let’s not be deceitful. In Israel, they perfectly understand the language of symbols.

A flag is not a rag. A flag is a sign of the state. And a state that today hosts Hamas and hears gratitude from it cannot demand neutral treatment of its symbols within a country that is at war with Hamas.

What Moshe Reuven Asman said

On June 11, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Reuven Asman, wrote about the Hamas meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry very accurately and harshly. His thought is simple: it is especially important for Ukrainians to see whom Moscow accepts as a partner. The same Hamas terrorists who killed, burned, raped, and kidnapped Israeli civilians today call Russia a friend and thank it for support.

This is not just an emotional reaction. This is the view of a person who sees the same system of evil from two sides.

Israel is fighting Hamas — Iran’s proxy. Ukraine is fighting Russian aggression. Iran is an ally of Russia. Russia hosts Hamas representatives. This chain does not require complex analytics. It lies on the surface.

NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency draws attention to this connection: for Israelis of Ukrainian origin, for Jews from Ukraine, for Russian-speaking Israelis who have not lost their moral compass, these are not two different stories. This is one front — against terror, against imperial lies, against those who justify killings with words about “political settlement.”

Asman’s phrase sounds especially accurate here: tell me who your friend is, and I’ll tell you who you are.

Moscow itself shows its interlocutors.

Hamas itself thanks Moscow.

And in Tel Aviv at this time, the Russian tricolor is unfurled.

Why this should concern Israel

The problem is not that someone speaks Russian. The Russian language does not belong to the Kremlin. Hundreds of thousands of people live in Israel for whom Russian is a native or familiar language, and among them are a huge number who support Israel, Ukraine, the IDF, the Ukrainian army, the families of hostages, and the victims of Russian terror.

The problem is not the language.

The problem is the political symbol.

The problem is that Russia Day in Israel is turned into a public demonstration of the flag of a state that is waging war against Ukraine, cooperating with Iran, hosting Hamas, and for years trying to sell itself to the world as a “fighter against Nazism” and “peacemaker.”

What kind of “peacemaker” if Hamas comes to Moscow and thanks Russia?

What kind of “fight against terrorism” if terrorists feel like welcome guests in the Russian diplomatic space?

What kind of “culture” if state symbols, political loyalty, and rituals of the “Russian world” always appear next to it?

For Israel, this is especially sensitive. Because Israel knows the price of terrorism not from textbooks. Israel knows that behind the words about “resistance” can stand burned kibbutzim, murdered children, raped women, kidnapped elderly and young people who are held in tunnels for months.

Therefore, when Hamas thanks Russia, and the Russian flag is unfurled in Tel Aviv, it is no longer just a coincidence of dates. It is a moral test.

The Ukrainian experience is important here

Ukraine has long understood what Israel now also needs to articulate aloud: Russian symbols rarely come alone. First the flag, then “compatriots,” then “protection of the Russian language,” then “common memory,” then “we are just celebrating,” then political pressure, propaganda, and justification of aggression.

Ukraine paid a huge price for the fact that for too long the world did not want to see this scheme.

Now Israel sees a similar picture at home. Not in Moscow, not in Kyiv, not in Donetsk, but in Tel Aviv. In a city that has become one of the symbols of free Israel, they unfurl the flag of a state that in the same days hosts Hamas.

And this is no longer a matter of taste.

This is a matter of security, memory, and moral hygiene.

No one says that every participant in the event automatically supports Hamas. That would be untrue and too crude a generalization. But everyone who today publicly displays the Russian state symbol in the Israeli space must understand: this symbol no longer lives separately from Moscow’s politics.

It comes with Bucha.

It comes with Mariupol.

It comes with Russian missiles on Ukrainian cities.

It comes with the alliance of Moscow and Tehran.

It comes with the reception of Hamas representatives in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

And if someone says that “it’s just a celebration,” then the problem is not in the celebration. The problem is in the desire not to see the obvious.

Two news items, one conclusion

TASS did not expose anything on purpose. It simply reported two news items.

First: Hamas held talks in Moscow.

Second: a huge Russian flag was unfurled in Tel Aviv.

But sometimes propaganda accidentally shows more than it wants. These two news items side by side look like a ready-made political poster. In Moscow — Hamas. In Tel Aviv — the Russian tricolor. Between them — Hamas’s gratitude to Russia for support.

After this, it is difficult to demand that Israelis perceive Russian state symbols as neutral.

The question is not whether people have the right to private memories, language, family history, or personal culture. They do. The question is different: does the Russian state have the moral right to unfurl its symbols in Israel as if nothing happened while it is in dialogue with those who brought October 7 to Israel?

The answer is obvious.

For Israel and Ukraine today, it is important to call things by their names. Hamas are terrorists. Russian aggression against Ukraine is a crime. The alliance of Moscow with forces that bring death, destruction, and terror is not a diplomatic subtlety but a political reality.

And if the Russian tricolor appears in Tel Aviv against the backdrop of Hamas’s gratitude to Moscow, it is no longer just a flag.

It is a signal.

And Israel has every right to hear this signal.