• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

ISRAEL WANTS TO DISCUSS WITH PUTIN ABOVE ALL RUSSIA'S COOPERATION WITH IRAN AND SYRIA

RIA Novosti

TEL AVIV, April 26 (RIA Novosti) - In Israel Russia's cooperation with Iran and Syria is understood not only as a reason for concern but also as an incentive for the development of a sincere dialog with the Russian side, Israeli presidential aide Ron Ben-Ishai told RIA Novosti on eve of the first-ever visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel.

The visit begins on Wednesday.

"Israel is interested in Russia not to prompt, conscientiously or not, the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. It is one of the weighty reasons why Israel and Russia are interested in the development of bilateral dialog", the interviewee said.

Ben-Ishai called the planned supplies of Russian antiaircraft missiles to Syria "a source of great anxiety for many in Israel".

"Here, as in the case of the Iranian nuclear program, the main problem for us is that such weapons and technologies may get into the hands of terrorists. I think that the Israeli leaders would like to have a direct talk with the Russian president", the presidential aide said.

Both the themes are far from all to be in discussion.

The sides may easily include at least 20 items in the list to be discussed, Ben-Ishai said. They represent mutual interest: from the Middle Eastern settlement, in which Russia is a prominent member of the quartet of international go-betweens, to the concerns of the Russian-speaking community, making up almost a quarter of the people of Israel; from opposition to the common enemy in the person of world terrorism, to shipments of Russian energy resources to Israel.

"This is why this visit is crucial", the interviewee said. "I cannot think of a more important visit. I think in significance it might be compared to the coming to Israel of the United States President George Bush".