Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and PM Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, July 23,2018. (Haim Zach/GPO)
On July 23rd, a Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, part of which was the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, General Valery Gerasimov met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenko in Jerusalem. The meeting was reportedly held after a short notice visit, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation posted a press release on the meeting between the officials. It explains that the meeting included discussions on various aspects of the Middle East agenda focusing on the situation in and around Syria. They also mentioned the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process in continuation of the meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Putin in Moscow on July 11th. What was also discussed in detail is the completion of the anti-terrorist operation in southern Syria and the provision of security along the Israeli border, including the implementation of the 1974 Agreement on Separation of Forces. Topics of bilateral relations were also part of the meeting.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a neutral statement confirming that the situation in Syria and Iran’s role in it were discussed.
As reported by Times of Israel, at the beginning of the meeting Netanyahu expressed his appreciation of the words of Putin and Trump after the Helsinki meeting. Adding that Israel’s relationship with Russia is extraordinarily important and that it is a fact, as can be seen from the meetings between the Israeli Prime Minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin and between their members of staff.
Haaretz reported that the Israeli Prime Minister praised the “the strong position expressed yesterday by President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo against the aggression of the regime in Iran.” He also continued by adding the following in regard to Iran: “Israel will continue to act against any attempt by Iran and its proxies to entrench militarily in Syria.”
At the same time, multiple rumors appeared in mainstream media claiming that Israel has pressured Russia and has even forced it to make some consequences.
According to these anonymous sources, Netanyahu, as he has done in the past, demanded that all Iranian fighters and their allies leave Syrian soil in the long term, Radio Free Europe reported. He alelgedly insisted on Iran removing all long-range missiles and its air-defense system from the country.
Another alleged Tel Aviv demand is that the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon be closed, as well as those between Syria and Iraq, to prevent the smuggling of Iranian weapons, Times of Israel reported.
An anonymous Israeli official claimed that the Russian representatives proposed the creation of a buffer zone, which would keep the Iranian forces at a minimum of 100km from Syria-Israel border.
The undisclosed Israeli official, cited by Reuters, said that despite Russia seeming “committed” to its offer, Netanyahu rejected it and told Lavrov: “We will not allow the Iranians to establish themselves even 100 kilometers from the border.” According to Reuters, Israel has also rejected an earlier Russian offer to create an 80 km wide buffer zone from the border. Neither of these offers have been confirmed by either side’s officials.
The official, who, according to Israeli media requests anonymity also said: “This was a very important meeting at a significant time, during which we delved into many details, produced maps and shared intelligence, and explained in great detail our policy.” He also claimed that Iran wishes to turn Syria into a second Lebanon in terms of missiles readily available to be shot at Israel. According to him, Israel is adamant on preventing that.
The unnamed official also said that Israel has allegedly shared some hitherto unknown intelligence to Russia, as reported by Times of Israel. There is however no confirmation of any information given by the anonymous official.
One of the highlights of talks between Israel and Russia, as well as US and Russia on the Syrian situation are the repeated demands for Moscow to limit Iranian presence and influence in the country. However, Russia’s efforts are targeted at reducing the severity of the situation between the sides on the battlefield and has taken no steps toward fulfill the request for Iranian withdrawal from Syria.
Iranian leaders have dismissed any US and Israeli demands to leave the country. Their official attitude is that they shall leave only after Assad asks them to do so. Syria, for its part, has been clear on Iran’s counter-terrorism mission in the Arab state, with Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad saying the pullout of the Iranian military advisors from the country is not up for discussion, as reported by PressTV.
According to PressTV, Israel has frequently attack military targets inside Syria in an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that are suffering defeats by the Syrian government. Syria intercepts the projectiles and has vowed to strengthen its air power and defenses in the face of Tel Aviv’s aggression, PressTV further claimed.
Russia and Iran have supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government throughout the war, which started as a crackdown on protests back in 2011. On July 13th, PressTV reported that Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei once again stated that Iran coordinates its military presence in Syria with Moscow and Damascus.
Early morning July 23rd, before the meeting Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying: “Israel insists that the [1974] Separation of Forces Agreement between it and Syria be honored as it was in the decades before the outbreak of civil war in Syria, and that Israel will continue to act against any attempt by Iran and its proxies to establish a military presence in Syria.” The two countries have fought two wars over their shared border, in 1967 and 1973, leading to Israel seizure of the Golan Heights in Syria’s Quneitra province. The Israeli occupation has never been recognized internationally.
Netanyahu’s statement Israel is ready to re-launch the Separation of Forces Agreement is a clear indication that Tel Aviv has accepted the fact that the Assad government is restoring control of southern Syria and it cannot prevent this.
Great movement at Mid East…Assad wins step by step, now cleared 70% of Syria´s territory, there was the matter to discus face to face…
King St. Louis IX once said (paraphrasing), “The only possible discussion with a Jew is to run a sword through his belly.” I like King St. Louis IX.
Then christian countries should be united.
And muslim countries should be united.
How strange, the US is hostile towards Russia rather than Israel, and Saudia is hostile towards Iran, rather than Israel.
Arab despots may be friendly to Israel, but the Arab people hate Israel’s guts…
I keep wondering… why all this alleged super powers, all suck israeli dick.
Slowly but surely Syria is cleansed from vermin. Deep state has been pushing for war and the Russians have so far successfully avoided it. Both Trump and Putin know that israhell is in possession of nukes, yes, illegally but they have it and both Trump and Putin recognize israhell’s mental disorder so they are very much concerned about the security of the world which is threatened only by istahell. They are not concerned about israhell but the danger to the world coming from there.
when a midget blackmails you, what you do? No my friend this is not the reason.
Israel and jews are the plague of the world !
This smell bullshit. Russia talking friendly with the designer of the destruction of Syria country.
since israel lost in syria, i don’t see why they shouldn’t talk friendly. Russia isn’t another United States, they do diplomacy like it’s intended and not trough belches and farts.
Keep your friends close,BUT your enemies Closer
Russia is trying to get Israel becoming less dependent on the US, but that’s difficult to achieve without weakening Assad’s position. Israel will not stop interfering in Syria, but maybe Russia will be able to convince Israel to limit the scope of its intervention. The main goal is fully liberating Syria from foreign presence, and that requires tightrope strategy in respect of Israel. One should appreciate Russian efforts towards that goal, rather than criticize Putin.
I believe Israelis couldn’t get what they want from the Russians, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many visits. They get everything they want from the US, so their PM doesn’t go there as regularly as he goes to Russia.
This time I think Russians want something from Israelis. Israelis up their craziness one or two notches every time Russia asks them for something, so pulling it down to the level it was before would be a positive point they give. Do it enough times and Russia has to give something in return.
Fully liberating Syria means the Golan Heights will return to Syrian state.
I am not agree at all. Russia has behaved very very friendly with Israel and has been allowed Israel to bomb Syria freely. This is not because Russia want Israel to become less depending of USA, this will never happen. This is because Russia is also a little bite controlled by jews.
Russia and Iran have saved Syria otherwise Israili and American created Daesh would have ended this country thanks Russia and Iran
The meeting was about the Israeli terrorism in the region and about Golan Heights. The remaing all matters are irrelevant.
“Early morning July 23rd, before the meeting Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying: “Israel insists that the [1974] Separation of Forces Agreement between it and Syria be honored..”
A good start would be not violating Syria’s air space. Apparently Israel doesn’t understand that agreements work both ways.
Mr. Putin sent delegation to Benjanyahu that stop terrorism in the region and violation of Syrian Golan Heights. Biting on each country is not good.
Agreements DO NOT work both ways because the goy is not human; the only covenant that counts is the one between the jewish people and their God. The sooner the goy understands his predicament, the sooner he can shed any illusions of playing nice with Team J. Only strength is respected.
Ok but its about time that SAA shoot their missile and rockets vs Israel…and Russia stop playing two bands!…
Israhellis are very bad losers,,watch out for some mean dirty tricks coming soon,and they of course will always play the VICTIM.Total scumbags.
Interestingly, a day ago Israel fired for very first time two of their brand new and much vaulted ‘David’s Sling’ medium interceptor missiles – apparently in attempt to down two Syrian launched Tochka rockets fired at the ISIS enclave on Israeli-Jordan borders – but in initial operational use both Israeli interceptors completely failed to hit their targets.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5315377,00.html
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trial-by-failure-8-things-to-know-for-july-24/
LAVROV had better wash his hands very carefully after shaking hands with that demon.How he has the stomach to talk to a genocidal zionist maniac is beyond me.
He should count his fingers first.
And check his wallet and wristwatch . .
i dont understand where is the good relationship Russia&Israel….Jews state protect terrorist, attacks syrian army bases, shot down Syrian jets….while Syria dont have weapons such as S-300, Mig 29 M2, IskanderM, Bastion P&Brahmos for land attack, ECM warfare…etc…etc…to avoid that airstrikes!
40,000 little jews run Moscow now, more so than under Gorbachev, Chernenko, Andropov, and Brezhnev. Putin is more jew controlled than under the latter stages of the Communist Soviet Union.
For over 20 years the Communist Bloc was anti-zionist, had no embassy with Israhell, was friends with the arab and Muslims and for the cause of Palestine. Putin just inherited these friendships and is in the process of betraying them all to Trumpstein and Netanyahu, on orders from rabbis.
ISIS was a threat to Israhell if it went rogue, so Putin was allowed to help Assad fight ISIS, because ISIS could have turned on ISrahell if the ISIS members found out that they were being controlled by the jew.
its not for that reason…it is because israel dont let Arab gaspipelines through Israel to Haifa to link to EU…thats why we see how pathetic have turn SAA being hit by Israel along these years without fire a single rocket vs Israel…only Iran fight back!
“At the same time, multiple rumours appeared in mainstream media claiming that Israel has pressured Russia and has even forced it to make some consequences.” – hahahaha”, as a side issue, how do you “make some consequences” ?, who the hell, do they think they are ?.
Putin sends diplomats to Israhell, while Erdogan calls Israhell is the world’s ‘most fascist, racist’ state:
If only Assad and Erdogan can get along, with friendship with Iran and Iraq and others like Pakistan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtHoj7aNh60
If Israel continues to act belligerently, this wis what will happen.
Syria and Iran will simply change the Rules of Engagement (ROE). Its simple, when Israeli jets strike Syria, the Syrians, Iranian IRGC in Syria, and Hezbollah should respond with missiles, ballistic missiles, and not only in the Golan, but Israel proper.
Also, the Syrians need to start complaining about terrorist/militant attacks originating from the Golan at Syria. This is the perfect tool/casus belli to muster all the forces aligned in Syria and make a move to fully liberate the Golan, and if things go graet, into Israel proper.
The Syrian Arab Army, NDF, Hezbollah, IRGC advisors and im sure fighters, Iraqi PMU’s (numbering in the hundreds of thousand, and they answer directly to Mr. Khamenei, 25,000+ thousand Afghan volunteers, Chechens special forces/commandos, some working for the Russian Mod, others directly for Mr. Khadyrov (and these guys want revenge real bad on the U.S. for the airstrike on a mixed SAA and Chechen military personnel that killed many comrades). Plus a vast reserve pool, volunteer pool to tap into in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. The forces I mentioned above, have 7 years experience of brutal, war of attrition style warfare against total martyrdom seeking fanatics, in desert, rural and urban environments. By now, they combined, have been distilled down to perhaps the best fighting forces in the world.
Outside if its airforce , what does Israel have? The IDF are made up of LGQBT’s, exchange students from the U.S., and degenerates who only excel at killing unarmed civilians.
When 75,000 IDF troops and 2 armored battalions tried to attack/cross into Lebanon in 2006, they were met by ferocious fighters of Hezbollah. And only 4500 participated in effectively routing the Israel IDF offensive. And Hezbollah had the bulk of its forces, especially its elite and commando units stationed north of the Litani Line. Imagine if they were all at the border when all the action took place. The fighting would have easily spilled over onto the Israeli side. And mort importantly, Israel had total air superiority over the battle field, but were not able to be effective in the least. You see, Hezbollah has adapted to the Israeli air force tactics, and when fighting breaks out, Hezbollah employ a simple tactic developed by the Soviets at Staingrad, for the most part. Its called ‘ hugging you enemy ‘ , or ‘ grabbing your enemy by the belt ‘ . Hezbollah fighter teams, ATGM teams, and rocket teams got up close as possible to Israeli troops and armor, rendering air strikes ineffective. It was a mess for Israel. They even closed down the factory that produces the once much touted Merkava MBT (The Chariot of God).
44 out of 400 Merkava MBT’s were completely destroyed, and Hezbollah would target the first one in column, and the last one, effectively rendering the whole column immobilized, and they simply fired their ATGM’s from only a few dozen meters away, which made the strikes most lethal.
The much touted IDF Golani Brigade got surrounded, then the location they ended up came under heavy rocket and mortar fire, and the situation looked grim for Israel’s famous brigade. It didn’t look good, and this was all happeneing in a small village on the border. So the IDF had to divert, pull major resources to finally be able to mount a rescue mission, and sustained many losses. Also Israel’s Navy flagship was hit by a C-108 Chinese variant anti-ship missile. It nearly sank.
Meanwhile, all Israel could do was , per usual, bomb civilian neighborhoods in South Beirut , which only hardened Hezbollah. Missiles and rockets were launched from Lebanon into targets in Israel until the very last day of the 33 day war.
Israel has no strategic depth at all, its Achilles heel big time. And the Israel population are not ready for a serious war, neither morally or psychologically. Israels economy could not sustain itself in a conflict lasting more than a few months, which of course the U.S. would support it with billions, and troops. But the U.S. is not ready, nor capable to engage in a wide war in the Middle East. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have already told Trump that the U.S. is re-grouping, in man-power and equipment , and will not be ready for any serious conflict until at least 2022.
The axis of resistance should, and must strike at the Golan, and don’t give air power any targets. They must me highly mobile, small units, and strike the IDF hard and fast. In fact , if possible surround entire units / battalions if possible.
I believe the axis of resistance, who largely answer to Mr. Khamenei, Bashar and Nasrallah, are being slowly but surely prepared for an all out blitz west of the contact line of 1974. And the British, French, U.S. bases, which are rather small, we be overrun , overwhelmed and even in Iraq the coalition, U.S., Britain , France, Italy are sitting ducks. Mr. Solemenei of the Iranian IRGC Corps. Al-Quds Force is the main architect for the coming engagement. He personally led the Iraqi PMU’s to clear Iraq of ISIS and he is moving the Iraqi PMU’s close to the Syrian/Jordanian border close to the Golan. And right up close to Jordanian/U.S. base Al-Tanf. There are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi PMU’s, and their auxiliaries. Once hostilities fully break out, the reserve pool, and volunteer pool will swell enormously.
The Syrian tribes are already reading themselves for a vicious insurgency that they will unleash on the Kurds/SDF , and their allies the U.S., Britain, France.
If Israel and the US want to get Iran out of Syria, they must negotiate directly with Iran, not with Russia.
Perhaps if all the US sanctions are lifted against Iran (as well as Syria), Iran might be persuaded to leave Syria. In the meantime, Iran should continue to build up it’s forces, especially air defenses, in Syria.
The air defense system should also be moved into Lebanon, so as to prevent Israel from launching missiles over their airspace.
Israel demands this and Israel demands that . . Well, we all demand that israel removes all its military forces 500km to the west. That should put them all in the sea once and for all . .
Wow, the criminal Syria destruction designer (Israel), giving orders to Russia and telling it what Russia must do. WOW !!!