Netanyahu to meet Putin before election, Iran in Syria on top of agenda

A meeting of the two leaders follows a Monday phone call in which regional issues were discussed.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Russia Thursday, before Israel’s election next week, to talk with President Vladimir Putin, his office announced on Tuesday.

The meeting follows a phone conversation the two had Monday in which “the situation in Syria [and] the continuation of the security coordination” that exists there between Russia and Israel were discussed, Netanyahu said at a press conference later that day.

Israel’s most recent action in Syria, according to several Syrian sources, took place last week when Israel’s Air Force struck an Iranian weapons storage facility in the vicinity of Aleppo’s airport. Seven members of Iranian-backed forces were killed. Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack.

It has been about five weeks since the two leaders last met in the Kremlin, when Netanyahu praised the countries’ ties, which “prevented friction between our armies and contributed to security in the region.”

A diplomatic source tells Russian state news agency Ria Novosti that the two countries are currently working on “concretization” of the understandings reached in December between their armed forces regarding action in Syria. This would take the form of written documents to officially record what the two sides have agreed, the source said.

According to Israel Hayom, the meeting also comes after Netanyahu presented a plan last week to U.S. President Donald Trump to remove Iranian forces from Syria. The newspaper’s source said that Netanyahu presented the same plan to “a month ago in his meeting with Putin.”

Netanyahu has pressed Putin on ridding Syria of its Iranian presence in most of their meetings since 2015.

The Thursday meeting comes five days before Israel goes to the polls. Netanyahu has repeatedly brandished his relationship with Putin, as well as other world leaders, as invaluable to Israel’s security.