Netanyahu to Putin: We Will Continue Operations Against Iranian Military Presence in Syria

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, met with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, on Wednesday, March 8, at the Kremlin to emphasize the continuation of "coordination between the armies of the two countries" regarding "Iran's military presence in Syria." Netanyahu's visit came at a time when his position in Israel is threatened by a series of internal issues. According to Ynet, Netanyahu stated at the beginning of the meeting with the Russian president, "Our direct communication has prevented clashes between our armies and contributed to the security and stability of the region." The Israeli Prime Minister added, "The greatest threat to the stability and security of the region is Iran and its proxies; and we are determined to continue our operations against Iran's efforts to stabilize in Syria." Vladimir Putin, as in most of these meetings, refrained from publicly reacting to the Israeli Prime Minister's statements regarding Iran in front of the cameras and preferred to recall the Soviet role in the establishment of Israel 70 years ago. Meir Ben Shabbat, National Security Advisor, and Tamir Hayman, Chief of Military Intelligence of the Israeli army, accompanied Netanyahu in this negotiation. This was the first time in six months, following the crash of a Russian military plane in Syria that killed 15 of its soldiers, that Vladimir Putin agreed to another meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli government insisted on negotiating regarding Iran's military presence. The Russian Ministry of Defense attributed the actions of Israeli fighter jets involved in bombing targets against Iran in Syria to the crash of the Russian military plane, but Israel rejected the findings of the Russian investigation. Israel, which has been attacking Iranian forces and their allies in Syria for the past three years, has recently stated more explicitly that it is "in direct war with Iran in Syria." Netanyahu's trip to Moscow coincided with Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, emphasizing the continuation of the strong Damascus-Tehran alliance during his first visit to Iran in eight years of the Syrian war. Iran and Syria have been strong allies for the past 40 years, and their alliance with Hezbollah, which Israel refers to as "Iran's proxies," has been strengthened in the Syrian war and has effectively led to the survival of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Tehran and Damascus consider Iran's military presence in Syria to be in accordance with the legal military agreements between the two countries and a "consultative" matter; Syria was also Iran's only supporter in the eight-year war against Iraq. Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, emphasized last week that the response of the "Resistance Axis" to continued Israeli attacks in Syria "will be different in 2019 than in the past," but did not provide further details. Russia has also entered the war in Syria since September 2015 to support the continued existence of the Syrian government against various opposition groups, but despite some cooperation with Iran in Syria, it has not practically prevented Israeli military attacks in Syria. Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, stated last month after a visit to Syria that the S-300 air defense systems provided by Russia to Syria do not activate during Israeli attacks. Netanyahu's trip to Russia and "corruption cases" Israeli journalists accompanying Netanyahu reported that while he was in a hurry to return to Israel and ready to meet with Putin sooner, the Kremlin delayed the meeting for hours, apparently due to the presence of the Russian president at a press conference with the Moscow government. Netanyahu, who was supposed to meet with Putin last week, postponed the trip to March 8 due to internal electoral issues in Israel. However, this meeting of Netanyahu from Moscow was still influenced by multiple internal issues that are significant for him in the upcoming elections in a month and a half. On one hand, a television campaign film from the Likud party from the cemetery of Israeli military casualties, and on the other hand, the imminent intention of the Israeli prosecutor to announce a decision regarding the police investigation files against Netanyahu shortened his trip to Moscow from the previously scheduled timeline. He, who arrived in Moscow early Wednesday, was supposed to stay until Thursday night, but since Avichai Mandelblit, the Attorney General, stated on Wednesday that he would soon announce his opinion on three corruption and bribery cases against Netanyahu, he advanced his return to Jerusalem. Israeli media report that Netanyahu and his legal team expect that he may be accused of corruption in at least the case known as "Case 4000," the sale of the Israeli telecommunications company to the owner of the "Walla News" site. Haaretz has also suggested that Netanyahu may be accused in "Case 1000" of receiving gifts from foreign billionaires. In the hours before his trip to Russia, Netanyahu was busy preparing a film and explanation in defense of his actions, including publishing an "open letter" from Alan Dershowitz, a Western lawyer, to the Israeli Attorney General criticizing the potential indictment against Netanyahu on his social media. Netanyahu also delayed the start of his flight to Moscow by an hour to personally apologize to the people of Israel for hurting their feelings regarding the Likud party's campaign film, emphasizing that his own brother is a military casualty, and ordered that this film be removed from his party's media and that an investigation be conducted within Likud regarding this matter and action taken against those responsible. The Likud television, which has been set up ahead of the elections in the country, suggested in a film from a military cemetery on Wednesday that if Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's main rival in this election, wins, cemeteries will become more populated. The "Blue and White" coalition, of which reserve general Benny Gantz, the former chief of staff of the Israeli army, is one of the two leaders, responded to the release of this Likud film by saying that no one could have believed that the Prime Minister would exploit the grief of the families of military casualties for his political campaign. The "Blue and White" coalition stated in its statement to Netanyahu, "Apologize quickly, or else this stain of disgrace will accompany you for the rest of your life; shame on you, Netanyahu." Many parties and public opinion in Israel strongly condemned this film, and the head of the equivalent of the Martyrs Foundation in Israel asked, "Which psychopath thought of this film?"