Netanayhu says Trump agreed to all his requests on Syria at UN meeting

Netanyahu says he obtained several guarantees from Trump regarding Israel’s ongoing operations against Iranian military entrenchment in Syria.

“I received what I asked for,” the prime minister tells reporters after the meeting that took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “I came with specific points and I got them.”

He declined to specify what he asked the US president for.

Netanyahu says they also discussed the downing of the Russian spy plane last week by Syrian air defense during an Israeli air strike, an incident that has led to diplomatic tensions between Jerusalem and Moscow.

“We have a goal, and it is as follows: On the one hand, to maintain the security coordination with Russia, and secondly, to allow Israel to defend itself against” the threats emanating from Iran’s effort to establish military bases in Syria to attack Israel,” he says.

“The greatest threat to Israel doesn’t not come from Syria, nor does it come from Lebanon or from what Iran does in Syria, or even from what Iran does inside Iran, he says. “Rather, Israel’s number one worry continues to be the Islamic Republic’s ambition to acquire nuclear weapons.”

“Iran wants to create nuclear weapons with the declared goal to destroy us,” Netanyahu says, adding that the issue was discussed at great length with Trump in their meeting.

— Raphael Ahren