Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Russia won’t limit Israel in Syria after celebrating US withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal
Israel will now be closely watching Iran’s response to Trump’s decision, particularly over uranium enrichment, which was constrained under the deal
Russia is unlikely to try to limit Israel’s military actions in Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, and one day after celebrating a personal victory with America’s departure from the Iran nuclear deal.
Since intervening in the Syrian civil war on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, Russia has generally turned a blind eye to Israeli attacks on suspected arms transfers and deployments by Assad’s Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah allies.
But Moscow’s condemnation of an April 9 strike that killed seven Iranian personnel set off speculation in Israel that Russian patience might be wearing thin.
Netanyahu flew to Moscow on Wednesday to meet Putin, hours after US President Donald Trump quit the Iranian nuclear deal and after Syria accused Israel of carrying out a fresh missile strike on an army base near Damascus.
“Given what is happening in Syria at this very moment, there is a need to ensure the continuation of military coordination between the Russian military and the Israel Defence Forces,” Netanyahu told reporters before departing, referring to a hotline designed to prevent the countries clashing accidentally.
[Previous meetings with Russia were intended to limit Israel’s actions] and that didn’t happen, and I have no basis to think this time will be different