Israel paid more than $ 1 million to obtain COVID-19 vaccines against Syria’s enemy enemy as part of a secret prisoner exchange agreement, according to reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted last week that his warm ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin helped secure the return of a 23-year-old Israeli woman detained in Damascus.
But instead of a direct exchange of prisoners for two Syrian shepherds, as first revealed, Israel paid Russia to send its vaccines against Sputnik V to Syria to facilitate the exchange, it says. The Times of Israel and other Israeli media.
Netanyahu remained upset when questioned Saturday about the reports, saying “no Israeli vaccine was delivered” to Syria, but without ruling out that Israel had paid Russia to supply the vaccine.
“It simply came to our notice then. I’m glad I did that. I thank President Putin for doing so, “he told reporters, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“More than that I will not add because that was the Russian request,” he said.
The Associated Press said the vaccine deal was $ 1.2 million, while a source told Al Jazeera it was for “millions of dollars.” The full details of the deal were censored by the Israeli military, the media said.
“It is legitimate for the Israeli government to decide to deviate from past rules and pay in another form of currency,” Israeli military correspondent Yoav Limor told Israel Hayom.
“However, the decision to hide this is disconcerting and worrying. Obviously, someone was very uncomfortable with this issue coming to light.
The Israeli government declined to comment on the inclusion of vaccines in the prisoner exchange agreement, the WSJ said.
Russian officials have not commented on the deal, while the Syrian state news agency quoted an unidentified source as denying that coronavirus vaccines were part of the deal, according to the WSJ report.
With publishing cables