Netanyahu speaks with Putin, disapproves of ‘anti-Israel positions’ by Russian diplomats at UN

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow, Russia January 30, 2020. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov/Pool)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a nearly hour-long phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday amid tensions between the Jewish state and Moscow.

Netanyahu told Putin that he disapproved of "anti-Israel positions" that were made by Russian diplomats at the United Nations last week, along with Russia’s “dangerous cooperation” with Iran, Reuters reported.

Netanyahu defended Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 240 hostages taken back to Gaza, telling Putin that any nation would have dealt a similar response, according to the report.

Since the Hamas incursion into the Jewish state, Israel has launched airstrikes and a ground war that have that have leveled entire neighborhoods in Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians.

Netanyahu also reportedly thanked Putin for Russia’s efforts to help free Russian dual nationals that were taken hostage and asked Moscow to put pressure on the Red Cross to allow humanitarian visits to the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that Hamas still has 117 hostages, as well as the remains of 20 people killed in captivity or during the Oct. 7 attack. The militants hope to exchange them for large numbers of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Tensions between Israel and Russia have been cold as Moscow remains critical of Israel’s war against Hamas.

During a U.N. Security Council meeting last week, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky warned that Israel’s plan to flood Hamas tunnels to flush out the terrorists may constitute a war crime.