Netanyahu to discuss Syria with Putin in Moscow

By Abdel Rauf Arnaut</p> <p><br></p> <p>JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to discuss developments in Syria during his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Times of Israel.</p> <p><br></p> <p>“We will discuss events in Syria… and the regular and special coordination between our armies, as well as other important issues for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters on Thursday before setting out for Moscow, where he will meet Putin later the same day.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Notably, it will be Netanyahu’s first visit to Russia since U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last month recognizing the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory — a move to which Moscow has expressed its opposition.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Despite Trump’s proclamation, the UN continues to view the strategic plateau as “Israeli-occupied territory”.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Netanyahu’s visit to Moscow also comes five days before Israel is scheduled to hold hotly-contested Knesset (parliament) elections.</p> <p><br></p> <p>In separate statements Thursday, Netanyahu warned that Israel could reoccupy the Gaza Strip — from which it withdrew in 2005 — as a “last option”, according to The Jerusalem Post.</p> <p><br></p> <p>“All the options are still on the table, including entering Gaza and occupying it,” he was quoted as saying.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Another option, the prime minister said, would be to hand responsibility for the blockaded coastal enclave — along with its roughly two million inhabitants — over to another country.</p> <p><br></p> <p>“I had hoped that we would find someone who would take it,” he was quoted as saying.</p> <p><br></p> <p>“I have spoken with many Arab leaders about this possibility… [but] no one wanted to do this,” he added, without saying which Arab leaders he had raised the issue with.