Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet tomorrow in the Russian city of Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking him to put a stop to Iran's growing presence and influence in Syria.
Both leaders will discuss different regional and bilateral issues, but the most prominent issue is expected to be the situation in the neighboring country, where Israel highlights that Iran is taking positions as the Islamic State weakens.
"Netanyahu is interested in influencing Putin to minimize or avoid the Iranian presence and keep Iranian forces in Syria as far away from the border as possible," said Benjamin Miller, a professor of international relations at the University of Haifa.
«Putin is the only member of the Shiite coalition of Afghan, Iranian, etc. militias. who support (Syrian President Bashar Al) Assad, and who seem to be winning the war, who maintain a good relationship with Israel. "He is the one who can prevent them from approaching the border," he added.
For years, Netanyahu has considered Tehran an existential threat to the country and sees the growth of its influence in the Middle East as a major risk.
The head of the Government, who will travel to Sochi accompanied by the director of the foreign secret service (Mossad, Yosi Cohen), is expected to warn Putin that, if the Iranians are allowed to advance, the region could be plunged into war, reported the newspaper Israel Hayom, close to Netanyahu.
"Israel will warn Russia not only that new Sunni extremist organizations may emerge to take the place of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) but also that strengthening the Shiite axis (in Syria and Yemen) disrupts regional stability, threatens moderate Sunni states and could cause an escalation," the newspaper states.
Miller adds that Israel will likely also try to convince Russia at the meeting to prevent arms supplies to Tehran.
Getting Putin's support is important because "the US has minimized its presence in the Middle East. "Putin could become a brake, replacing the (North) American role," says this expert, who believes that in Sochi there will also be talk about "post-war peace agreements, the influences of each party and the deployment of forces."
In fact, Cohen traveled to Washington last week to present this same position on the risk of the Iranian advance to the White House, although according to Israel Hayom the Israeli delegation was very well received at the White House but returned "empty-handed." , without any promise to take concrete measures.
«Putin is a cunning person. It will be difficult to get something for free, you will have to pay. It is a challenge. But maybe Netanyahu will achieve some things, like Trump, he likes totalitarian personalities,” says Miller.
Former director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs Yosi Kuperwaser told Kan public radio that Netanyahu is likely to share intelligence information with Putin to convince him of the need to stop Iran.
«Although the Russians are in Syria, I am not sure they know everything that is happening. The big winners are the Iranians, who have basically taken control in that country. Iran can act against Israel from all over Syria. And, what is worse, this makes it possible for them to promote their nuclear program from within Syria,” Kuperwaser warned.
Amnon Sella, professor emeritus of Soviet and Russian Studies at the Hebrew University, adds that "the closer Iran gets to the borders, the more attempts there will be to send advanced weapons systems to Hezbollah, and Israel will want to destroy the convoys carrying them from territory." Syrian to Lebanon.
Last week, the former commander of the Israeli Air Force, Commander General Amir Eshel, revealed that in the last five years the country has attacked "about a hundred times" convoys of the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah to prevent this arms smuggling, attacks which take place periodically but are not confirmed by the Israeli authorities.
Senior officials of the Israel Defense Army (IDF) consider that Israeli deterrence of the Shiite group in southern Lebanon and Syria "is being eroded," the Maariv newspaper reported.
A report detailing the use of drones by Hezbollah to attack Islamic State forces near the border between Syria and Lebanon "has increased fear among senior Army officials," says the newspaper, which adds that the Shiite group has reinforced its presence in southern Lebanon.
Concerns that, according to experts, Netanyahu will present to Putin in the hope that he will help address them. EFE and Aurora
Russian permission to bomb the Iranian scud factory in Syria.
If we don't get that, let's look elsewhere.
IF WE DON'T GET THAT, WE WILL DO IT AND THAT'S IT. FUCK THE RUSSIANS.
Now the situation seems to be in the hands of the Russians. Trump wanted to clear the way for his Russian friends and, in the process, he has done so for the Iranians. As things are going, Israel's involvement in a war against Iran in Syria seems possible...