JERUSALEM: Israel paid Russia $1.2 million to provide the Syrian government with coronavirus vaccines as part of a deal that secured the release of an Israeli woman held captive in Damascus, according to Israeli media reports on Sunday.
The terms of the clandestine trade-off orchestrated by Moscow between the two nations remained murky. But the fact Israel is providing vaccines to Syria drew criticism at home, and stands in contrast to Israel’s refusal to provide significant quantities of vaccines to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday “not one Israeli vaccine” was involved in the deal. He didn’t address whether Israel paid for Russian vaccines, and said Russia insisted details of the swap remain secret.
BACKGROUND
The terms of the clandestine trade-off orchestrated by Moscow between the two nations remained murky.
Labour Party leader Merav Michaeli called on the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee to discuss the deal and Netanyahu’s “political, inappropriate use of censorship.”
“Why do Israeli citizens consistently need to learn about things from foreign media that their prime minister is hiding from them?” she said on Israel’s Kan radio Sunday. Israel announced Friday it had reached a Russian-mediated deal to bring home a young woman who had crossed into neighboring Syria earlier this month.
