Russia supports Israel’s goals of seeing the Daesh
terrorist group defeated and preventing Iran from increasing its
regional influence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
Thursday after meeting with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in
Jerusalem.
"Israel, Russia and the U.S. -- and many other countries --
share the goal of eliminating Daesh," Netanyahu said in a
statement.
"To the same extent, we are also concerned by the second element
leading radical Islam, and this is Iran -- which champions the
destruction of Israel and supports 360-degree terror on five
continents," he said.
Despite Russia's alliance with Iran in their shared support for
the Syrian regime, Netanyahu said both countries wanted to stop
Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and establishing a military
foothold in Syria, which borders Israel to the northeast.
"We are also determined to prevent it from bringing about the
establishment of Shiite militias, which it is organizing, and of
course the arming of Hezbollah with dangerous weapons aimed at us,"
he said.
Over the past year, Russia’s military operations in Syria -- and
its cooperation with Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah -- have led to
frequent meetings between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir
Putin over how to manage their differing interests in the war-torn
country.