PUTIN AND NETANYAHU DISCUSS REGIONAL COORDINATION

Written by  Mati Tuchfeld

Putin and Netanyahu in 2012 Photo Israeli GPO LOGORecognizing the new superpower in the Middle East, Israel continues close coordination of its unstated affairs in the Middle East. Meanwhile, as the Obama administration lashes out at Netanyahu in its final days, Donald Trump may be inviting Netanyahu to to his inauguration as the 45th President of the United States.

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Two days ago, on the last day of 2016, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The two leaders discussed developments in the region, with emphasis on Syria and continued security coordination in this sphere, which has already proven itself in preventing misunderstandings,” the Prime Minister’s Office website said.

Russia has been fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s army and its Hezbollah and Iran allies against Syrian opposition groups and several radical Islamist terrorist groups, trying to wrestle control of the country from Assad.

While Israel has refrained from intervening in the Syrian civil war, which has been raging for nearly six years, foreign media reports occasionally attribute various third-party military operations conducted in Syria to Israel, saying they aim to prevent the fighting in Syria from spilling over to the Israeli side of the border, or that they target weapons convoys meant for local terrorist groups fighting Israel.

Presumably, these alleged Israeli operations require some coordination between Israel and Russia to prevent a clash between their forces.

Meanwhile, American media reported Sunday that US President-elect Donald Trump is mulling inviting Netanyahu to his inauguration, set for 20 January.

According to the New York Post, Trump’s transition team, led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has been pushing for Netanyahu to attend the festivities and for the two world leaders to meet before then.

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This is a lightly edited version of the original article published by Israel Hayom at http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=39207