Putin and Netanyahu strike deal to prevent direct clashes in Syria
ISRAEL HAS become reconciled to Russia’s growing role in Syria.
In an emergency summit in Moscow on Monday, convened at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request, the Israeli premier and Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed on establishing a military mechanism that will prevent mishaps between Israeli forces and the Russian army units that have been arriving in Syria in recent days to strengthen the Assad regime.
In their meeting, Mr Netanyahu told the Russian president that Israel was extremely concerned that arms supplied to the Syrian army would reach Hizbollah, and that Iran is building up its military infrastructure on Israel’s northern border.
The meeting lasted two and a half hours. Afterwards, Mr Netanyahu said: “I made it clear in a way that could not be misunderstood that we will not agree with the armament Iran is leading against us and will take any actions necessary — as we have until now — against this terror and the threats to our security.” Mr Netanyahu was alluding to attacks carried out by Israel (which Israel has not taken offi- cial responsibility for) on Hizbollah arms convoys.
Mr Putin responded by saying he “understood” Israel’s security con- cerns, that the Syrian army was in no state to open a front against Israel and that he was against any attacks against Israel. Mr Netanyahu was accompanied to Moscow by the IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot and head of military intelligence, Major General Herzi Halevi, who discussed with their Russian counterparts details of a “deconfliction” mechanism. The system discussed is designed to ensure that Israeli and Russian forces do not obstruct each other in Syria.
While Israel has kept the United States informed of its discussions with the Russians, the fact that the meeting took place in Moscow, without an American presence, is another signal that the Israeli government has little faith in the Obama administration playing a major role in Syria.
One Israeli official said: “We can’t really blame Russia for working with Iran and Syria while the Americans are also talking and making deals with Iran.”
Wecan’t blame Russia for workingwith Iran—theUSis doingthesame