Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Moscow for a two-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin. The meeting is reported as a discussion about Iran and interference in Syria, but it takes place right before Israel is expected to find out if Netanyahu is facing indictment for fraud and bribery.
The next day, before an announcement of the indictment is made, Donald Trump praises Netanyahu’s leadership.
“He’s tough, he’s smart, he’s strong,” Trump said in reply to a question from a reporter from an Israeli media outlet. “He is very defensive. His military has been built up a lot. They buy a lot of equipment from the United States, and they pay for it.”
This is the duo’s 10th meeting in three and a half years. At the end of their meeting, Putin invites Netanyahu’s wife Sara into the room to give her a bouquet of flowers.
The prime minister thanked Putin for his friendship and the “straight, open and honest” nature of their relationship.
Netanyahu also met briefly in his hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, with leaders of the Russian Jewish community. He remembered the “Jews of Silence” of the Soviet Union and said that we are now living in a golden period of ties between Russia, the Jews and the Jewish state.
Sources
https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Trump-on-Netanyahu-probes-He-is-great-PM-hes-tough-582030
Photo: Kremlin.ru
