Israel is counting on Russia to keep confrontations with Iran and Syria from spiraling into war as the US mostly watches from the sidelines, a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Michael Oren, said.
"The American part of the equation is to back us up," but the US currently "has almost no leverage on the ground," Netanyahu’s deputy minister for public diplomacy and a former ambassador to Washington said. "America did not ante up in Syria. It’s not in the game."
Oren’s criticism reflects Israel’s view that Washington isn’t doing enough to curb Iran’s military ambitions in southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-held Golan Heights, as seven years of fighting wind down and actors consolidate gains.
"The expectations are that the Russians will stop it because I don’t think anyone is interested right now in a war. Asked if the Russians can keep Iran and Syria at bay. We assume that they have that ability. We’ll see," Bloomberg cited him as saying.
