World Jewish News

Netanyahu: Israel-Russia-US Jerusalem meeting is crucial for regional security

Next week's meeting in Jerusalem between the national security advisors of Israel, the US and Russia is “very important for the stability of the Middle East during these turbulent times,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Netanyahu, speaking at a memorial ceremony for the victims of the Altalena, said that this tripartite meeting testifies strongly to Israel's standing today among the nations.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton and his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, are scheduled to arrive early next week for talks – alongside with their Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat – expected to focus on Iran’s presence in Syria.

A White House statement earlier this month about the unprecedented trilateral meeting said that the three men will “discuss regional security issues.”

The meeting is scheduled to take place from June 24 – 26.

Netanyahu first proposed the idea at the Kremlin in February, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that dealt primarily with Iran’s presence in Syria.

At the Altalena memorial ceremony, Netanyahu also that both openly and in secret Israel is in contact with many leaders around the Arab world, and that “there are extensive ties” between Israel and most of the Arab states.

Sixteen Irgun fighters and three IDF soldiers were killed when David Ben-Gurion gave the order to fire on the Altalena Irgun arms ship in June 1948 in what has since widely been viewed as a watershed moment in placing all the country’s weaponry under one authority.

To prevent civil war, Menachem Begin – then commander of the Irgun – ordered his men not to retaliate.

BY HERB KEINON

JPost.com