Russia rejected an Israeli request for a 60-kilometer buffer zone between the Golan Heights and any so-called “Iranian-backed” groups in Syria.
Israeli media reported on Friday that Moscow only promised that the “Iranian-backed” groups would not come any closer to the Israeli occupied territories than 5 kilometers.
“The Russians agreed only to promise that the Iranians and their allies would not come any closer to Israel than five kilometers from the armistice lines between those of President Bashar Assad’s regime and the rebels. Because the Syrian government still controls the northern part of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, from the city of Quneitra north toward Damascus, this means in practice the Russians only promised to keep the Iranians away from the actual border,” Haaretz reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had raised the issue with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, including in July in advance of Syrian cease-fire talks.
The news of the Kremlin’s rejection broke in advance of Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump in New York on Monday. It also came as a senior Russian negotiator said that Russia, Turkey and Iran are close to finalizing an agreement on creating four de-escalation zones in Syria.
The prime minister has repeatedly warned about Iran’s expanding influence in Syria. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, he said, “Aside from trying to build atomic bombs,” Tehran is “trying to place the Iranian Army in Syria. They want to colonize Syria the way they colonized Lebanon.”
Source: Israeli media
