Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu managed to get far-reaching security guarantees from Russian President Vladimir Putin about a month ago, during their meeting in Moscow, according to a Friday report by Ma'ariv.
Netanyahu asked Putin "not to push" the convening of a conference on making the Middle East free of nuclear weapons, which United States President Barack Obama called for in 2010. Putin surprised Netanyahu by promising "Russia will block efforts to convene the conference," and made it clear to Netanyahu that Russia will not do anything that harms Israel. He added that despite the alliance between Israel and the US, Russia will stand at Israel's side and help the Jewish state if it gets into trouble.