Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday for talks focusing on Iran's actions in Syria – an issue that is expected to top the agenda of the upcoming U.S.-Russian summit.
Israel has repeatedly objected to an Iranian military presence in neighboring Syria, where Iranian and Iran-affiliated forces have been supporting President Bashar Assad in a yearslong civil war. Israel has bombed a number Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria as part of a campaign to prevent Iran and its proxies from establishing a permanent presence there.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu told Putin on Wednesday that Israel does not intend to threaten Assad's rule in Syria and asked Moscow to work to remove Iranian forces from Syria.
"We won't take action against the Assad regime, and you get the Iranians out," the official, who requested anonymity, quoted Netanyahu as telling Putin.
David Keyes, a Netanyahu spokesman, denied that the prime minister made that statement to Putin.
Asked to summarize Israeli policy on Syria, Keyes said, "We don't get involved in the civil war. We will act against anyone who acts against us."
Russia is already working to distance Iranian forces from areas of Syria near the Israeli border and had proposed that they be kept 80 km (50 miles) away, but this fell short of Israel's demand for a full exit, the official said
At his meeting with Putin, Netanyahu hailed the warm relations between Russia and Israel, emphasizing what he described as their key stabilizing role for the Middle East.
"Every visit like this is an opportunity for us to act together and try and stabilize the situation in our region and increase security and increase stability," Netanyahu said.
He said the cooperation between Israel and Russia was "a central component in preventing a conflagration and deterioration of these and other situations; therefore, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to discuss these matters and, of course, all other issues."
Netanyahu said Israel was operating "in an unexpected place," explaining that Israel was not merely avoiding clashes with Russian forces in Syria, "we also coordinate between the armies all the time, including at this hour. These meetings are ongoing and will continue in any situation."
He said Israel would work to ensure "operational freedom [in Syria] in accordance with the principles we have set: If we see Iranians, we act against them. If we see Hezbollah, we act against it."
Russia, another top key ally of Assad, has warned it would be unrealistic to expect Iran to fully withdraw from the country. However, there have recently been signs of an emerging compromise among key players.
Ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin, scheduled for Monday in Helsinki, media reports suggested that the two leaders could potentially reach a deal that would see the deployment of Syrian government forces alongside the frontier with the Israeli Golan Heights and the withdrawal of Iranian forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah from the area.
While Russia and Iran have both deployed forces in Syria to help prop up Assad's government, their interests do not always converge.
In a reminder of the volatile situation, Netanyahu touched on an incident earlier Wednesday, in which the Israeli military shot down a Syrian drone that had infiltrated Israeli airspace from Jordan.
"We will continue to act decisively against any spillover and any infiltration of Israeli territory or airspace," Netanyahu said.
He added that Israel expects Syria to strictly observe a 1974 armistice that demarcated a demilitarized zone along the Israel-Syria border and limited the number of forces each side can deploy within 25 kilometers (15 miles) of the zone.
Israel has been on high alert as Assad's forces advance on rebels in the vicinity of the Golan Heights. Israel worries Assad may allow his Iranian and Hezbollah reinforcements to entrench near the border with Israel, or that Syrian forces may defy a 1974 Golan demilitarization agreement.
Since turning the tide of Syria's civil war by intervening militarily in 2015 on Assad's behalf, Russia has turned a blind eye to scores of Israeli airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah deployments or arms transfers, while making clear it wanted Assad kept immune.
The Israeli official who requested anonymity said Russia was working to distance Iranian forces from the Golan and had proposed that they be kept 80 km (50 miles) away but that this fell short of Israel's demand for their full exit along with that of Tehran-sponsored militias.
Russian officials had no immediate comment on the meeting.
Israeli cabinet ministers threatened this week to fire on Syrian forces that enter the Golan buffer zone set up as part of a 1974 U.N.-monitored armistice. The United Nations last month renewed the mandate of its Golan observer force UNDOF and on Wednesday called on all parties to abide by the armistice.
"There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than those of UNDOF," a U.N. spokesman said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale published Wednesday that Moscow hopes that Israel and Iran will both display caution and avoid a showdown.
"Their use of military force in Syria would inevitably lead to an escalation of tensions across the entire Middle East region," he said. "In that context, we rely on peaceful diplomatic means to resolve any differences and expect both sides to show restraint."
