Netanyahu and Putin speak, discuss Syrian civil war

Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, three days after the reported assassination by Israel early Sunday morning of Samir Kuntar in a Damascus suburb.

The call reflects Israeli and Russian efforts to coordinate steps while Russia supports sworn enemies of Israel in its efforts to prop up its ally Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war.

Kuntar was a close ally of Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group that has sworn to destroy Israel but constitutes a key military force fighting with Russia alongside Syrian government troops and pro-Assad militias.

In their Tuesday phone call, Netanyahu and Putin agreed to coordinate “anti-terror” efforts, and discussed the Syria war, according to the Russian news agency RIA.

According to the Ynet news site, Arab media outlets have wondered why Russia didn’t use its S-400 air defense system, deployed to its Hmeimim military base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, to prevent the purported Israeli strike.

Pundits have speculated Russia may be coordinating with Israel in Jerusalem’s operations against Hezbollah and its supply routes through Syria.

Such coordination was denied on Monday by the Kremlin, whose spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not know of any Israeli warning about an impending strike.