Russian, Israeli security chiefs meet in Moscow

By Elena Teslova</p> <p>MOSCOW (AA) – The heads of Russian and Israeli national security councils met Thursday in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria and bilateral relations, the Russian Security Council press office said in a statement.</p> <p>&quot;Nikolai Patrushev and Meir Ben-Shabbat exchanged views on a number of topics of Russian-Israeli cooperation in the security sphere, and also discussed the situation in Syria,&quot; the statement said.</p> <p>Ben-Shabbat came to Moscow as a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's delegation, who met earlier in the day with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Israeli premier came just days before Israeli parliamentary elections.</p> <p>It is Netanyahu’s first visit to Russia since U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt decision last month to recognize Israel's territorial claim to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights — a move Moscow has opposed.</p> <p>