Netanyahu trying to arrange Putin visit to Jerusalem before elections — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is trying to arrange a visit to Israel by Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking to bolster support for his Likud party among immigrants from the former USSR ahead of the September elections, Channel 12 reports.

The Jerusalem municipality has approved the possibility of dedicating a new memorial in the capital for victims of siege of Leningrad during World War II — an event Putin has expressed interest in attending in past meetings with Netanyahu, the TV report says.

Netanyahu is aiming for the event to occur in September, before the Knesset vote.

The initiative is described as a move by the premier against Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman, a Moldova native whose base of supporters is Russian-speaking immigrants. Netanyahu has blamed Liberman for the new elections after the latter insisted on passing a law regulating ultra-Orthodox draft, a non-starter for the Haredi parties.