More information has emerged from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's meeting with President Putin last week. The two met in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi on August 23rd to discuss recent developments in Syria. According to new shocking reports in both Arab and Israeli media, a senior Israeli official accompanying Netanyahu on the trip threatened to assassinate Syrian President Assad by bombing his palace in Damascus, while further adding that Israel will seek to derail the US-Russia brokered de-escalation deal reached in Astana, Kazakhstan earlier this summer.

According to the Jerusalem Post:

A senior Israeli official warned the Russian government that if Iran continues to extend its reach in Syria, Israel will bomb Syrian President Bashar Assad's palace in Damascus, according to reports in Arab media.

 

Israel also warned that if serious changes do not happen in the region, Israel will make sure the ceasefire deal, reached by the United States and Russia in Astana, Kazakhstan, will be nullified.

 

A senior Israeli source told the Al-Jadida newspaper that no understanding was reached between the Israelis and the Russians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did, however, make it clear to Putin that its concerns must be met or Israel will be forced to act.

 

The warnings occurred in a meeting between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

As we noted at the time, Netanyahu's brazen words to Putin that 'preventative' escalation in Syria to destroy what Israeli defense officials commonly call the "Iranian land bridge" (or the so-called 'Shia crescent') reveals increased desperation as even the West is now seeming to ignore Netanyahu's repeatedly declared "red lines". While Netanyahu's public statements in Sochi were provocative enough - openly threatening direct military escalation in Syria should his demand for Iranian forces withdrawal not be met - the newly revealed threat of assassinating the sitting head of a sovereign U.N. member state takes the war of words to a whole new level.

Israel has warned Russia it will bomb Assad's palace if Iran continues to expand in Syria, according to officials https://t.co/uqunMXSPvG

— Liz Sly (@LizSly) August 28, 2017