PM Netanyahu Visits Paris With Iranian Proxy Hizbullah, Apparent Putin Snub On The Mind

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived in Paris Sunday morning to partake in events commemorating the end of World War One exactly 100 years ago. Ahead of his departure, the premier weighed in on various pressing issues, including reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin declined multiple requests for a bilateral meeting at the summit due to lingering anger over the downing in September of a Russian reconnaissance plane in Syria. Moscow blamed Israel for the incident and thereafter transferred to the Assad regime the advanced S-300 defense system, a move that most agree has curtailed Israel’s freedom to conduct cross-border raids targeting Iranian assets. Perhaps most significantly, Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu’s primary focus in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron will be to sound the alarm on Iranian proxy Hizbullah’s purported efforts to build precision-guided missile factories in Lebanon. The Israeli leader has over the past two months repeatedly broached the subject and went so far as to reveal satellite imagery of three suspected facilities in Beirut. Meanwhile, Netanyahu also was forced to defend himself after police recommended that several of his former close associates be indicted on corruption and bribery charges in so-called “Case 3000,” which centers on Israel’s $2 billion acquisition of German-made submarines. The prime minister, who is being investigated in three other graft probes, has not been named as a suspect in the latest affair but was nevertheless questioned by authorities.