Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his cabinet on Tuesday evening for an urgent meeting and a vote on a "humanitarian issue" pertaining to Syria.
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The details of the one-hour meeting were largely shrouded in secrecy, but based on information that has been made available to the press, Israel has asked Russia to use its influence with the Assad regime in Syria to help with the matter.
Prior to the emergency meeting, Netanyahu abruptly left a meeting of the coronavirus cabinet to attend to the "security issue."
In recent weeks, Netanyahu, Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi have spoken with their respective Russian counterparts on the matter in question.
Russia, which holds considerable sway in Syria after backing its president, Bashar Assad, in the fight against the Islamic State group and insurgents, has frequently mediated secretive contacts between Jerusalem and Damascus.
In 2019, Moscow helped Israel secure the remains of Sgt. Zachary Baumel, an American-Israeli soldier who went missing during the First Lebanon War in 1982.
In early April 2019, his remains were handed over to Netanyahu in a ceremony at the Russian Defense Ministry. Baumel was then buried at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.
Shortly thereafter, Israel released two prisoners with ties to Syria, with another two freed in January 2020, in a move described as a "goodwill gesture."
More recently, reports emerged that the Russian military has conducted excavation work at a cemetery in south Damascus, giving rise to speculations that it was searching for the remains of another Israeli soldier gone missing during the 1982 conflict.
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