Baladi - Media
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia on Wednesday that Israel would not seek to topple its ally, Bashar al-Assad, but Moscow should encourage Iranian forces to quit Syria, a senior Israeli official said.
Netanyahu conveyed the message in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official said, just hours after Israel shot down what it described as a Syrian drone that had penetrated its airspace, underscoring the frontier’s volatility.
“They (Russia) have an active interest in seeing a stable Assad regime and we in getting the Iranians out. These can clash or it can align,” said the Israeli official on condition of anonymity.
“We won’t take action against the Assad regime,” the official quoted Netanyahu as telling Putin in Moscow.
David Keyes, a Netanyahu spokesman, denied that the prime minister made that statement to Putin.
Russian officials had no immediate comment on the meeting.
Source: Algemeiner News