Putin brokers Israel-Syria ‘goodwill gestures’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released two Syrian prisoners as a "goodwill gesture” last week, a sign that he may be ready to live and let live with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The prisoners’ release “was the sole decision” of Netanyahu, Ben Caspit reports, “made without authorization from the Cabinet and carried out in utmost secrecy. In the harsh public and political criticism that followed, it was argued that the move was the second part of a secret deal that Netanyahu made with Assad under the mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The first step, it was said, was the transfer of the remains of Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel to Israel just prior to the April 9 elections, winning Netanyahu brownie points from the public as a world-class statesman,” as we reported here.

Putin, it will be recalled, outed Syria’s role in the return of Baumel’s remains, telling Netanyahu, “As you may know, our military personnel and their Syrian partners helped find Zachary’s remains.” The official response from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) at the time was that “Syria has no clue” about Baumel and that the incident confirms “cooperation between terrorist groups and Mossad.”