Media

Home page

Media

Netanyahu Cancels Putin Meet as Rivals Make Last-minute Efforts to Unite

20 February 2019 15:13 (UTC +04:00)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a trip to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday because of assessments that his main rival, Benny Gantz, will join forces with Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid ahead of the election, ONA reports citing Haaretz.

Netanyahu and Putin will speak on the phone on Thursday morning and a new date for a face-to-face meeting will be set, according to a diplomatic source. A Kremlin aide confirmed that Netanyahu canceled the meeting due to domestic political affairs.

Thursday's meeting was meant to focus on regional affairs, the situation in Syria and the strengthening of the security coordination between Israel and Syria's armies. It would have been the first time the two leaders met in Moscow since the downing of the Russian spy plane in Syria in September 2018.