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Netanyahu and Putin meet in Paris
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, the first time they have met since a Russian plane was shot down by Syrian missiles in September.
The Israeli Prime Minister briefed Israeli journalists about the meeting and said: “Obviously, I spoke with Putin. It was very good, business-like and very important. Beyond that, there’s no point in going into detail.”
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News reported last week that Russia cancelled a tentatively arranged meeting in Paris between Putin and Netanyahu due to its continuing anger over Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
Netanyahu also told journalists that he agreed to allow $15m of Qatari funds to enter Gaza because he wanted to “restore quiet to the residents of the Gaza periphery and to avert a humanitarian collapse”. He added: “The thing that creates stability and which undermines stability isn’t a change in the balance of deterrence, but internal volatility, which we have the power to avert. We were a pace’s distance from using maximum force. Hamas understood that and was deterred. We both prepared ourselves militarily and produced calm.”
When asked about the potential truce arrangement with Hamas, Netanyahu said that Israeli policy is not to prevent the entry of medical supplies and food into the Strip because “we need to distinguish between the population and the regime”. He added that he doesn’t have a political solution for Gaza, “just as there is no political solution to the issue of ISIS,” but hoped to reach an arrangement that will avert a humanitarian collapse in the Strip.
Discussing Europe’s relationship with Israel, he said that while sitting at the top table with heads of European states at yesterday’s event, he made it clear how important it is for them to connect and have good ties with Israel. “I do not hide my dissatisfaction with the fact that the European Union attacks and criticises Israel, which is a real barrier against the spread of radical Islam, Sunni or Shiite, in Europe,” the Prime Minister said.