Jerusalem
PM Netanyahu Met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi
By Itzhak Rabihiya
The prime minister makes a quick pre-election sortie to meet with the Russian president, and ends up with plenty of time for self-reflectionPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met (Thursday, 12 September 2019), in Sochi, at the Bocharov Ruchey, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who welcomed him at the entrance. Russian President Vladimir Putin was fashionably late. Three hours late. The sound of Putin’s helicopter hovering over his summer residence in Perhaps, during the short drive over in his armored car, he had time to reflect on all those he has kept waiting over the years. The actual meeting with Putin was solid. Netanyahu, who had met earlier Thursday with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, told Putin that the Iranians had significantly stepped up their efforts to harm Putin appeared to be familiar with these arguments and didn’t bat an eyelid as Netanyahu laid out his case. Putin was miserly this time with Netanyahu, refraining from any grand gestures that might boost his reelection efforts – times of During the prime minister’s last visit in April (also days ahead of an election) he returned to This time, he had nothing to offer except the vague wish that after the election next week, Israeli politicians will continue on Netanyahu’s path. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that "I am happy to meet you again. The relations between
Netanyahu, for his part, may have been speaking to Putin, but was actually looking toward Israel, promising to care for the welfare of the Soviet veterans, the millions of Russians living in Israel, and solving their pension crisis — a clear dig at his rival Avigdor Liberman, who has long positioned himself as the champion of Israelis from the former Soviet Union, and whose refusal to join Netanyahu’s putative coalition after April’s vote led to the year’s second general election next Tuesday. Netanyahu appeared tired on this trip. His combined political and diplomatic marathons in
It’s difficult to judge the political benefit of this meeting with Putin. The Russian president confirmed that he will visit Attached photo credit: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) | |
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