Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Russia on Monday for talks focused on Syria, warning that Israel will not accept Iran's growing military presence there and in neighboring Lebanon.
Before departure for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu said that Iran is trying to turn Lebanon into "one giant missile site, a site for precision missiles against the state of Israel, which we will not tolerate."
The Israeli leader further warned of "Iran's relentless efforts to establish a military presence in Syria, which we strongly oppose and are also taking action against."
Russia and Iran have joined forces to back President Bashar Assad throughout the Syrian conflict. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, helping Assad's forces score a series of victories and win back key ground. At the same time, Russia has sought to maintain close ties with Israel, and the two countries' militaries have established close communications to avoid collisions in Syria.
A Kremlin statement confirmed that the two leaders discussed "Russian-Israeli cooperation in trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas as well as some pressing international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East and in Syria."
This was Netanyahu and Putin's seventh meeting in the last two and a half years.
Speaking in a video statement after his meeting with Putin, Netanyahu hailed what he described as a "good and profound" meeting.
The prime minister said he reiterated Israel's position, which "views two developments as very serious: first, the attempts by Iran to base itself militarily in Syria, and second, Iran's attempt to produce in Lebanon precision weapons against Israel. I made it clear to him that we will not agree to any of those developments and we will act accordingly."
Speaking with reporters, Netanyahu said that he also addressed this issue in his recent meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders.
"It's important that our enemies understand that Israel will not tolerate this situation and that world powers understand our position," he said.
Netanyahu noted that Iran's efforts to entrench itself militarily in Syria "aim to change the status quo [in the region]. We have the opportunity to create a different reality there [in Syria], a calm reality after years of fighting. Iran is actively trying to agitate the situation on the ground, turn Syria into a military colony and introduce weapons that are very dangerous to Israel and Lebanon.
"We are at a watershed moment in Syria. Will Iran base itself in Syria or will this process be halted? I made it clear to Putin that unless this process comes to a halt, we will stop it. In fact, we are already working to curb it," he said.
Netanyahu said he also presented the Russian leader with Israel's demands to revise the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The U.S. said it would exit the pact unless significant changes were introduced to it.
The talks with Putin, Netanyahu concluded, were "genuine, sincere and profound, in a positive way, based on personal friendship and a meeting of clear interests."
Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin, who accompanied Netanyahu on his visit to Moscow, described the meeting between the two leaders as "very fruitful. It lasted longer than it was planned." Meetings between Putin and Netanyahu have "contributed greatly to Israel's security," he added.
Putin and Netanyahu met in the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, where they also attended an event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and visited an exhibition about a 1943 uprising at the Nazis' Sobibor extermination camp in occupied Poland.
Netanyahu noted that the uprising was led by a Jewish Red Army officer, and praised the Red Army's heroism in defeating the Nazis.
Putin expressed his appreciation, saying that the Israeli attitude contrasts with the removal of monuments to Red Army heroes in some European nations.
Putin noted that Russia and Israel are "cooperating closely in resisting attempts to falsify history and revise the results of World War II, deny Holocaust and downplay a decisive role the Soviet Union played in defeating the Nazis."
"The main lesson from the rise of the Nazis and later the defeat of the Nazis is the need to stand up powerfully to murderous ideology in time. That is our mission today as well," Netanyahu said.
At the end of the visit, Putin presented Netanyahu with a letter that Oskar Schindler – the German industrialist credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust – wrote to his wife, Emilie.
Schindler was named Righteous Among the Nations in 1963. Netanyahu said he would entrust the letter to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
