By Liza Rozovsky, Haaretz— Being friendly and considerate to locals when traveling is always good advice, but the Russian Foreign Ministry seems to think much more specific instructions are needed for its citizens traveling the globe to “avoid undesirable incidents.” Advice such as not to overindulge on alcohol is one thing, but the ministry’s consular…
By Elad Benari, Arutz7– Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene in order to stop the United States from moving its embassy to Jerusalem. Top PA official Saeb Erekat told AFP on Friday he had passed on the message from Abbas to Putin during a visit to Moscow…
By Debkafile— President Vladimir Putin has announced that the Syrian government and rebels have signed a truce deal and are ready to begin peace talks. The ceasefire began on Thursday, 29 December, at midnight local time. The deal excludes the Islamic State (ISIS) the al-Nusra Front and all groups linked to them. Putin has not…
By Reuters— Israel should be concerned about the deepening disconnect between Russia’s aims in the Middle East and its own goals, according to a senior Israeli official who held high-level meetings in Moscow last week. Avi Dichter, chairman of Israel’s foreign affairs and defense committee and the former head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency,…
By Times of Israel Staff, Times of Israel— Russia on Thursday confirmed that it had been in touch with President-elect Donald Trump’s team during the election campaign, the privately-owned Interfax Russian news agency reported. The terse announcement quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying, “Russia had contacts with Trump team, this work…
By Raphael Ahren, Times of Israel— Israel will prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria, and will continue to intervene to stop Iran arming Hezbollah and other Shiite militias there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday in Jerusalem. Moscow is a staunch supporter of Basher Assad’s…
By Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forums— Those who bemoan the United States constantly trying to jumpstart the peace process and force the two parties to the table finally have some cause for celebration. There are plans in the works for the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down across from each other at a peace…
By Debkafile— The talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Reccep Erdogen in St. Petersburg scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 9, are causing trepidation among Israel’s policy-makers and military leaders. Their summit takes place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, concluding nine months of hostility between the two capitals that was sparked by Turkish jets shooting…
By Unity Coalition for Israel— Russian Forpost UAV on Israel’s Searcher drone President Vladimir Putin turns aside all Israel’s complaints about Russian arms supplies to Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hizballah, whenever he talks to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – roughly every week-to-ten days. The issue is also raised without results by Israeli officials on trips to…
By Avi Issacharoff, Times of Israel— Pictures being published from time to time by Hezbollah tell a great deal about its role in the fighting in Syria. In some of the pictures Hezbollah fighters can be seen leaning against Russian tanks, and the truth is that since Russia began its open military activities in Syria,…