RUSSIA AND Israel were both facing domestic embarrassment last night after it emerged that Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu took a secret trip to Moscow early this week to persuade the Russians not to sell anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.
Officials in Moscow and Jerusalem were left backtracking after they initially denied media reports that Mr Netanyahu flew by private jet to Russia to discourage the Kremlin from giving the Iranians Russia’s advanced S-300 system.
His furtive encounter with the Russian leadership is likely to fuel speculation that the discussions referred to the Arctic Sea, the mysterious Russian cargo ship apparently hijacked on July 28th. Several newspapers have suggested that the boat was carrying S-300 long-range surface-to-air missiles bound for Tehran.
The story broke in Israel after the prime minister left his office in Jerusalem on Monday, telling only a handful of his closest aides where he was going. In public, staff said he was visiting a “security installation” in Israel, but on Wednesday night his bureau issued an update saying he had been engaged in secret activity.
It appears Mr Netanyahu flew to Moscow with his national security adviser, Uzi Arad, a former officer at Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence agency. Rather than taking an Israeli air force jet, they leased a private businessman’s aircraft at a reported cost of more than $20,000 (€13,700), returning that evening. It remains unclear whether their mission succeeded. – (Guardian service)