JERUSALEM – Israel’s prime minister stole away to Moscow this week to discuss Russian arms sales to arch-foes Iran and Syria, a report said on Wednesday amid speculation over the premier’s mysterious disappearance.
Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow on Monday, the respected mass-selling Yediot Aharonot daily said, citing anonymous sources.
Asked to comment on the report, Netanyahu’s office reiterated that the premier had spent Monday at the headquarters of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency.
Spokesmen for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the two leaders did not meet Netanyahu on Monday, but did not explicitly deny that the visit took place.
Netanyahu’s hours-long absence from public view on Monday has sparked furious rumours in the Israeli media as to where he spent the day, with a secret visit to an Arab country topping the speculation.
Israel has for years tried to convince Russia not to sell S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, which the Jewish state fears Tehran could deploy around its controversial nuclear sites.
Russia reportedly agreed to sell the systems to Tehran several years ago. Following an August 18 visit, Israeli President Shimon Peres said that he had secured a promise from his counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that Russia would review its decision.
Widely considered to be the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear power, Israel suspects Iran of trying to develop an atomic bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran denies.
Israel considers Iran to be its arch-enemy following repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state is doomed to be “wiped off the map.”
