Benjamin Netanyahu’s nightmare comes true as Putin crushes his plans

Source: Kremlin.ru

Benjamin Netanyahu’s nightmare is coming true. The guards of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and Hezbollah fighters prepare to attack Israel by using Syria as a springboard. The Israeli Prime Minister shared the “terrible news” on August 23, 2017 during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Sochi (the meeting lasted for almost 2.5 hours). Despite Netanyahu’s emotional state, the Russian leader remained calm.

“Iran is Russia’s strategic ally in the Middle East,” Putin said. “But Israel is also an important partner for Russia in the region,” he added.

Moscow takes into account security interests of the Jewish state. Thus, as experts say, the Kremlin conducts a complex geopolitical game, balancing between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a frequent guest in Russia. In 2016, the Prime Minister of Israel visited the Russian Federation twice: in April and June. His most recent visit to Sochi for a meeting with Putin is also a second one during the current year: he visited Moscow in early March 2017.

Netanyahu, 67, is considered the patriarch of Israeli politics. One can put him in the same line with other heavyweights of Israeli politics, such as Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Ariel Sharon, and Netanyahu can rightly be considered the last of the Mohicans. However, even such an experienced and charismatic leader of Israel as Benjamin Netanyahu could not keep composure at a meeting with Vladimir Putin in his Sochi residence of Bocharov Ruchei.

According to eyewitnesses of the open part of the talks, the Israeli prime minister was too emotional and at times even close to panic. He described a picture of the apocalypse to the Russian president that the world may see if no efforts are taken to contain Iran, which, as Netanyahu believes, is determined to destroy Israel.

Netanyahu also told Putin that Israel was extremely concerned about Iran’s participation in the Syrian conflict. According to him, Tehran is working on “creeping expansion” in the Middle East under the pretext of a peaceful settlement in Syria. Iran, he added, supplies weapons to Hezbollah fighters and gradually attracts Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen in the sphere of its influence.

Netanyahu told Putin that Iran takes the territories that the international coalition and Russia liberate from ISIL terrorists in Syria. “Tehran does not hide its intention to destroy the state Israel,” Netanyahu told Putin.

According to experts, Netanyahu does not exaggerate too much when he talks about Tehran’s plans to expand its influence throughout the Middle East. On August 22, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Hossein Jaberi Ansari arrived in Beirut, where he held talks with Secretary-General of Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah . The next day he had a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who said: “Israel and terrorism are the two main threats that Lebanon and the whole region of the Middle East are facing today.”

On July 23, 2017, Iraqi Defense Minister Irfan al-Hayali arrived in Tehran to sign a protocol with his Iranian counterpart  Hossein Dehghan to strengthen military cooperation. Tehran’s success is impressive against the background of the fact that Baghdad is considered a puppet government of Washington. Nevertheless, when Donald Trump calls Iran a “terrorist state”, the Iraqi Defense Minister signs an agreement with Iran to cooperate in the struggle against terrorism.

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