Mossad chief to join Netanyahu in meeting with Putin — report
Israeli delegation to seek to keep Iran out of Syrian territory once fighting is brought to an end
The head of the Mossad intelligence service will travel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with Russian President Vladmir Putin later this week.
Yossi Cohen will sit in on the meetings with the Russian leader, during which Netanyahu is expected to discuss a ceasefire in Syria brokered by Washington and Moscow. Israel has opposed the deal, saying it does not properly address Israel’s concerns about Iranian ambitions in the region.
The Israeli delegation will try to secure assurances that after a ceasefire brings the fighting in Syria to an end Iranian forces will be pulled out of the country and its territory, a Ynet report said.
Iran is said to be trying to forge a land corridor from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah operates.
Netanyahu will travel to Russia this week to meet with Putin for continued talks aimed at preventing the Israeli and Russian air forces from clashing in the skies of Syria, his office said Saturday.
Netanyahu will meet Putin in the Black Sea Resort of Sochi on Wednesday, the statement said. Netanyahu last met with Putin in Moscow in March, but they have spoken by phone frequently since then.
“The two set the meeting to discuss the latest developments in the region,” the statement said, adding that “it must be noted that in the last two years Prime Minister Netanyahu has met with President Putin every few months to discuss bilateral and regional issues with the intention of preventing any clashes between Israeli and Russian air forces in Syria, with success until now.”
Russia entered the Syrian civil war in 2015 in support of the regime of President Bashar Assad, carrying out bombing runs against rebel groups fighting against Damascus.
While Israel has rarely acknowledged carrying out its own airstrikes in Syria, numerous raids on weapons transfers have been attributed to Jerusalem.
Despite the coordination between the two countries, some of the reported Israeli airstrikes in Syria on weapons convoys have led to tensions between Jerusalem and Moscow.
In April, Moscow summoned Israel’s ambassador to Russia, Gary Koren, to protest a reported Israeli strike that nearly hit Russian troops stationed in the area. Syria’s ambassador to the UN later said that Russia had changed its policy and no longer grants Israel freedom of action over Syrian skies.
Netanyahu subsequently denied reports Moscow had told Israel to end airstrikes in Syria, vowing that the IDF would continue attacking weapons convoys.
The Times of Israel Community.