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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today rejected a Russian offer to keep Iranian-backed forces 100km from Israel’s northern border, saying long-range weapons also need to be limited. ‘Bibi’ has traveled approximately ten times to Moscow over the last several years to negotiate with the Kremlin over the security situation in the Levant, where Russian, Syrian, and Iranian-backed militia are active against the anti-Assad opposition.
The latest disagreement arose in a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russia’s top diplomat and top general, dispatched to Jerusalem as Syrian government forces routed rebels near the Golan. In Monday’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Netanyahu said a Russian offer to keep Iranian forces 100 km from the border was not enough, according to an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The Russians are speaking about (the 100-km buffer zone) and are committed to it, but we said there are also long-range weapons beyond this zone, and all those forces must leave Syria,” the official said, reported The Moscow Times.
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Tehran is bent on establishing a Shia ‘land bridge’ from Tehran to the Mediterranean, in order to cement its hegemony in the Middle East and set up the destruction of the Jewish State.
The Russian embassy in Israel tweeted that Lavrov and armed forces chief General Valery Gerasimov discussed with Netanyahu Assad’s advance in southwest Syria and “issues related to Israel border security.” Russia has said it wants to see the separation of forces on the frontier preserved. Lavrov’s deputy, Grigory Karasin, told Russian media the foreign minister’s trip was “urgent and important.” Before the meeting, Netanyahu said he would tell the envoys that “Israel insists on the separation of forces agreement between us and Syria being honoured, as they were honoured for decades until the civil war in Syria broke out.” He also reaffirmed “Israel will continue to act against any attempt by Iran and its proxies to entrench militarily in Syria,” added The Moscow Times.
Israel rejects Russian offer to keep Iran 100 km (62 miles)
from Israel’s borderhttps://t.co/9x0QaG3S5j …After Netanyahu meets Moscow's FM Lavrov, senior official says Jerusalem insisting Iranian forces leave Syria entirely.#Netanyahu#Israel#Iran#Russia#Syria
— Linda Marie Lovison (@lilo623) July 23, 2018