Netanyahu Sets Out Israeli Red Lines for Putin in Moscow

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, visiting Moscow on Monday, set out Israel’s red lines in the Middle East for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He told reporters following the meeting that he made clear that Israel will not allow Iran to manufacture or deploy missiles in Lebanon; or turn Syria into a military base for the benefit of Iran. Netanyahu reportedly told the Russian president that Israel will act to prevent either occurrence, presumably reserving the right to use military force to enforce his threat. During his visit, Netanyahu charged that Iran is already building missile factories in Lebanon, saying they were “in progress.” He failed to be specific in how his vow to prevent them from going active reconciles with his calling attention to the fact the facilities are being built at the present time. Israel has carried out a number of air raids inside of Syrian territory in order to prevent advanced weapons from being used in Syria or transferred through Syria en route to Lebanon and ultimately into the hands of Hizbullah terrorists. While Netanyahu apparently made his case to Putin, he did not receive a reply. Netanyahu did tell Putin that if Syria does not stop providing Iran with a military platform on its own, “then we will act to stop it.”