BICOM

What happened: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in Sochi, to discuss shared regional security issues – primarily Iran’s presence in Syria – and the status of immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet states. The one-day visit took place five days before Israel’s general election.

• Netanyahu also met with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and their talks focused on the long-standing deconfliction mechanisms between Israeli and Russian aircraft over Syria. Netanyahu stressed Israel’s need to “maintain freedom of action” for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to combat Iran’s “attempts to militarily entrench in the region.”
• Netanyahu told Putin that Israel had seen an increase over the past month in Iranian efforts to attack Israel from Syria, as well as with its precision guided missile project. Netanyahu said this was an “an intolerable threat” to Israel.
• Putin highlighted the 1.5 million former Soviet citizens who currently reside in Israel, saying “we always treated them as our people.”

Context: This was Netanyahu’s thirteenth meeting with Putin since 2015, with this visit widely viewed as an election gambit to showcase the Prime Minister’s international standing and personal relationship with the Russian leader, as well as to generate support among Russian-speaking voters in Israel.

• Netanyahu began his remarks by highlighting the past agreements reached regarding pensions and veterans rights for these Soviet expatriates.
• Nevertheless, Putin did keep Netanyahu waiting for nearly three hours, with the subsequent meeting itself lasting for three hours.
• In his public remarks Putin was noncommittal regarding next week’s election, saying only that “it is extremely important to us who is elected to the next Knesset and we hope they will maintain the friendship between our nations and further strengthen our relationship.”
• A day earlier the Russian Foreign Ministry criticised Netanyahu’s declared intention to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan valley saying the move could “lead to a sharp escalation of tension in the region and undermine hopes for the establishment of a long-awaited peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours.”
• France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK issued a joint statement last night expressing their deep concern after Netanyahu’s Jordan valley announcement. They described the move, if implemented, as: “A serious breach of international law .. that would imperil the viability of a two-state solution, based on the 1967 lines, and make it harder to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

Looking ahead: By past standards, this was a relatively chilly reception for Netanyahu in Russia.

• Just prior to the initial Israeli election in April, Netanyahu also travelled to Russia for a meeting with Putin – where the remains of an Israeli soldier killed during the 1982 Lebanon War were transferred to Israel for repatriation. No such gesture was forthcoming this time.
• Talks regarding security coordination in Syria are crucial for regional stability, but a key point of difference remains Iran’s military presence in the country – a reality Russia shows no willingness to challenge or limit, despite Israeli requests.