Netanyahu to Visit Moscow Over Concerns About Russian Moves in Syria said:
JERUSALEM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel plans to travel to Russia next week for talks with President Vladimir V. Putin about the stationing of Russian forces in Syria, Mr. Netanyahus office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Netanyahu will present the threats posed to Israel as a result of the increased flow of advanced war matériel to the Syrian arena, the statement said. Among those threats, it said, are the possible transfer of weapons to Hezbollah, the Lebanese organization, and other militant groups fighting in Syria that are hostile to Israel.
Russia has sent some of its most modern battle tanks and other military equipment and personnel to an air base in Syria, in what American officials have said is part of a buildup that could give Moscow a more significant military foothold in the Middle East.
Pentagon officials have said that the Kremlin may be planning to turn the airfield, south of Latakia in western Syria, into a major hub. Such a base could be used to funnel military supplies to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and perhaps as a staging area for airstrikes in support of his forces.
Russia has backed Mr. Assad throughout the Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year. The new airfield is near the Assad familys ancestral home.
The buildup is adding to frictions between Russia and the United States, which has demanded for years that Mr. Assad give up power. Russia contends that the Syrian government is the only force that can defeat the Islamic State extremists, while the United States has tried to support rival insurgent groups and has led a campaign of airstrikes against the Islamic State.
Israel, a strategic ally of the United States, maintains good bilateral relations with Russia, but Israeli and Russian interests in the Middle East differ. Israel has said that while it will not take sides in the Syrian civil war, it will act to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah, a longtime enemy of Israel that is supporting Mr. Assad in the fighting.
There have been more than a half-dozen airstrikes in Syria against cargos of weapons that appeared to have been bound for Hezbollah. The strikes have been attributed to Israel, but Israel refuses to confirm or deny that it was responsible.
Against this background, Israeli experts said they expected Israel and Russia to seek ways to avoid coming into direct confrontation in Syria, while Israel would try to ensure its freedom of action in the region.
Netanyahu wants to understand what the Russians plans are, how far they will go and how it will affect Israels interests, said Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Russia who is now at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. If Russia were to try to get in the way of Israeli actions meant to prevent weapons transfers to Hezbollah, he said, Russia and Israel could find themselves in conflict.
On the other hand, Mr. Magen said, the Russians may feel more comfortable coming to understandings with Israel than with the United States.
A former Israeli security official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the diplomacy, said it was important for Israel and Russia to have understandings and open lines of communications. The former official said that Hezbollah and its patron, Iran, might try to exploit the Russian presence in Syria as a protective umbrella, perhaps believing that Israel will hesitate to strike too close to Russian installations for fear of becoming entangled with Russian forces or hitting them by mistake.
