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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has reportedly canceled a trip to Moscow slated for Sept. 14. While reports indicate that the cancellation stems from his ongoing legal troubles, the move may point toward a larger policy shift by Israel toward Russia.

The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert canceled his trip to Moscow scheduled for Sept. 14. The trip was apparently canceled because of a recommendation made Sept. 7 by the Israeli police to indict Olmert on bribery charges. While the explanation seems plausible, it is unlikely. If Olmert was unable to go because of political heat at home, a high-level Israeli official could have gone in his place or the visit could been rescheduled.

Instead, the cancellation seems to indicate that Israel is switching its strategy on how to handle a resurgent Russia, from a policy of accommodation to one of potential confrontation.

The relationship between Russia and Israel has had its fair share of ups and downs, beginning with a close alliance between the nascent Jewish state and the Soviet Union in the late 1940s. This was followed by a period of Soviet patronage of Israel’s enemies, mainly Egypt and Syria, which was designed primarily to strike at U.S. interests in the Middle East but which also threatened Israel as an ancillary effect. But with the end of the Cold War, Moscow’s influence receded from the Middle East.

Israel’s biggest existential threat is not from its Arab neighbors but rather from a global power seeking to establish its own interests in the Middle East. In other words, Israel’s neighbors only become a threat once they obtain outside patronage making them bold, organized and armed enough to strike at Israel from all sides.