Israeli and Russian military delegations meet in Moscow, Russia, December 12, 2018 (Israeli military Spokesperson’s Unit)
On December 12, a delegation of the Israeli military visited Moscow and held talks with Russian defense officials on the recent developments in Syria and Lebanon. The Israeli delegation was led by Head of Israeli military Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, while deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff Maj. Gen. Vasily Trushin represented the Russian side.
“During the talks, the two sides discussed pressing security issues in the Middle East, the situation in Syria, continuous coordination, and improving the deconfliction mechanism between the two armies on Israel’s northern border with Syria and Lebanon,” the Ministry of Defense of Russia said in an official statement.
From its side, the Israel military said that its officers presented details of the ongoing Operation Northern Shield to their Russian counterparts. The operation, which was launched earlier this month, is allegedly aimed at discovering and destroying Hezbollah tunnel penetrating the Israeli-Lebanese separation line.
The Israeli military also stressed that will continue its operations to prevent “Iranian entrenchment and the arming of Hezbollah” in Syria.
“The delegations reached an understanding and agreed to continue in their joint work,” the Israel military said on Twitter.
The Russian-Israeli relations witnessed a major blow last September, when hostile actions of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) led to the shootdown of a Russian intelligence plane by Syrian air defense fire.
The meeting today indicate that Tel Aviv is now working to revive its special relation with Moscow by improving the coordination with Russian forces in Syria.
