Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a congratulatory letter to newly re-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin—who won another 6-year term after securing more than three-quarters of the ballots—in which he hailed their relationship and, notably, refrained from criticizing the voting process as many European nations did. “I deeply appreciate the personal dialogue between us, and I look forward to continuing to closely work together, in the spirit of the trust and understanding between us, to promote the vital interests of our countries,” the Israeli premier wrote. Netanyahu has made frequent trips to meet with Putin since Russia became the major player in Syria after intervening military in the war in September 2015. Specifically, Israel relies on Moscow to provide it with freedom of action in Syrian airspace in order to conduct strikes against convoys transferring advanced weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon and, increasingly, to target military infrastructure being built by the Islamic Republic. As a result, Jerusalem has been wary of angering the Kremlin and Israel’s limited response last week to the poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter on British soil—that is, the Israeli Foreign Ministry released a two-sentence-long statement that did not even mention Russia—was construed as an example of the Jewish state’s delicate political balancing act between East and West. Among the other regional leaders to congratulate Putin were Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who “laud[ed] the strategic relations that the two countries share and their keenness to further enhance them;” and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who wished Putin “constant good health and happiness and his people steady progress and prosperity.”