PM says Israel-Iran stepping up activities against each other — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu that Israel is stepping up attacks against Iran-backed forces.

“Israel has ratcheted up its activities recently because Iran has increased its attempts to attack Israel from Syrian territory, and so there is a need to step up our defense cooperation,” Netanyahu said, according to Hebrew media reports.

Speaking to Russia’s RBK teleivison, Netanyahu claims his close relationship to Putin is key to Israel having Russian backing for its anti-Iran air campaign.

“This coordination [between the two countries’ militaries] has become possible only because President Putin and I respect each other. We talk as peers, openly and without a hint of dismissiveness. We speak frankly, calling a spade a spade,” he says, according to a translation by Sputnik.