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Netanyahu says he told Putin that Israel is against Iran’s presence in Syria

Netanyahu also informed the Russian leader that Israel Defense Forces had downed a Syrian drone

TEL AVIV, July 11. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he had a very important meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and told him that his country is against any presence of Iran in Syria.

"It was a very important meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. I stressed Israel’s clear position: we are against any presence of Iran in Israel," Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook account.

He also wrote that he told the Russian leader that Israel had downed a Syrian drone over its territory. "We will continue to react toughly in such situations," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces downed an unmanned aerial vehicle over the Israeli territory. Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that the Israeli Defense Forces had been monitoring the drone since it entered the demilitarized zone separating Syria and Israel on the Golan Heights. According to Conricus, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had flown approximately ten kilometers into Israel before being shot down by a Patriot missile in the south of the Sea of Galilee, in northern Israel. Previously, the drone had penetrated into Jordan’s airspace.

"We made sure in real time that it was not a Russian UAV [before shooting it down]," he said. "Our current understanding was that it was an unarmed Syrian UAV. It appears to have been on an intelligence collection mission."

In 2015, the militaries of Russia and Israel set up a coordination mechanism to prevent possible incidents.