Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Tuesday night for a very quick trip to Moscow – just 24 hours – to meet with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin – his 11th since 2015.
This is the first formal meeting, however, since Syrian aerial defenses shot down a Russian reconnaissance plane while trying to hit an Israeli warplane that was targeting an Iranian military installation. During that incident 15 Russian crew members were killed, and the Russian Defense Ministry blamed Israel for their deaths, forcing a distance between the two countries for months, although both leaders have maintained communication by phone.
In advance of his flight Netanyahu told reporters the focus of their discussions will be “Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
“We are taking action against it,” Netanyahu said. “We are attacking their bases. We will continue to take action against it,” he said. “This is what I will discuss with the president.
“We will continue to act until we get the Iranians to leave Syria because Iran is threatening to destroy Israel and we will not allow it a base close to our border.”