Opposition MKs Demand Kremlin Deal Doc

Prompted by a media report last week that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vetoed a possible deal with Russia to expel Iran from Syria in return for a lifting of U.S. sanctions on Tehran, three opposition MKs have demanded to see a related document transmitted from Moscow.

MK’s Merav Michaeli (Zionist Camp), Ofer Shelach (Yesh Atid) and Omer Bar-Lev (Zionist Camp) sent a letter to MK Avi Dichter (Likud), the head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, demanding to see a letter from Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev to his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat in September that reportedly outlined the proposed agreement, Channel 10 reported on Sunday.

The MKs want the letter presented to the Knesset committee and Mr. Netanyahu subpoenaed to appear before the lawmakers to answer questions about the matter.

According to reports, the deal called for the withdrawal of U.S. and Iranian forces from Syria, with Israel acting as the go-between in negotiations between Washington and Moscow. Mr. Netanyahu turned it down, they said, because he felt that keeping the sanctions on Iran were more important.