Russia is unlikely to try to limit Israel's military actions in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since intervening in the Syrian civil war on behalf of President Bashar Assad in 2015, Russia has generally turned a blind eye to Israeli attacks on suspected arms transfers and deployments by Assad's Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah allies.
But Moscow's condemnation of an April 9 strike that killed seven Iranian personnel set off speculation in Israel that Russian patience might be wearing thin.
Netanyahu flew to Moscow on Wednesday to meet Putin, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump quit the Iranian nuclear deal and Syria accused Israel of carrying out a fresh missile strike on an army base near Damascus.
"Given what is happening in Syria at this very moment, there is a need to ensure the continuation of military coordination between the Russian military and the Israel Defense Forces," Netanyahu told reporters before departing, referring to a hotline designed to prevent the countries clashing accidentally.
After the talks with Putin, the prime minister sounded upbeat.
"I presented Israel's obligation and right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, from Syrian territory. The Iranians declare their intention to attack us. They are trying to transfer forces and deadly weapons there with the explicit goal of attacking the State of Israel as part of their strategy to destroy the State of Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement.
"I told President Putin that it is the right of every state, certainly it is Israel's right, to take such steps as are necessary to defend itself against this aggression. I think that matters were presented in a direct and forthright manner, and this is important. These matters are very important to Israel's security at all times and especially at this time."
"In previous meetings, given statements that were putatively attributed to – or were made by – the Russian side, it was meant to have limited our freedom of action or harm other interests and that didn't happen, and I have no basis to think that this time will be different," he told reporters in a phone briefing.
There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
Early Thursday morning, the Israeli Air Force struck over 50 Iranian targets inside Syria after Iran's elite Quds Force launched its first direct attack on Israel just after midnight.
According to IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, no Iranian rockets landed inside Israeli territory.
Netanyahu's relationship with Putin has been buoyed by a long-running Israeli courting of Russian sensitivities.
During his 10-hour Moscow visit, Netanyahu attended, alongside Putin, annual Red Square celebrations of the anniversary of the end of World War II. Israel recognizes the Russian date, May 9. Most Western powers mark it on May 8.
Following the parade, the leaders attended a wreath-laying ceremony for the unknown soldier at the memorial for Red Army soldiers who fell in World War II and whose resting place is unknown. The leaders laid flowers on the stones of the Moscow Hero City Monument in the presence of an honor guard; national anthems were also played.
Netanyahu thanked Putin for inviting him to attend the ceremony, which he said was a testament to the "deep ties between our two peoples."
"We in Israel do not forget for a moment the great sacrifice of the Russian people and the Red Army in the victory over the Nazi monster. ... We will never forget the meaning of your sacrifice, of those soldiers, along with the half a million Jewish soldiers in the Red Army, in ensuring the fate of Russia, of humanity and of our people, the Jewish people.
"Neither do we forget the great lesson of the need to stand against a murderous ideology in time. It is unbelievable, but 73 years after the Holocaust, there is a country in the Middle East, Iran, that is calling for the destruction of another 6 million Jews.
"The difference is that today we have a state, and I very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss regional problems with you, the attempts as you put it, to resolve the crises, to lift the threats in a prudent and responsible manner."
Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday, "When the president of Russia invites the prime minister of the state of the Jews to stand alongside him at the parade symbolizing the Red Army's victory over the Nazis, its liberation, also, of the [concentration] camps, of Jews and others – for Russia, that is very significant."
Netanyahu and Putin also discussed the Iranian nuclear archives collected by Israeli intelligence agents in January and presented by Netanyahu last week. The two agreed that a Russian intelligence delegation would fly to Israel to review the materials.
Last week, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman used a Russian newspaper interview to remind Moscow that Israel had not joined Western sanctions against it over the Crimea crisis and the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in Britain.
