On 12 September, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. Netanyahu expressed his concern with the Iranian presence in Syria, which he considers as an “intolerable threat”. On the other side, Putin confirmed that the bilateral relation between Russia and Israel had gained a “new quality” in almost every field and remembered that Russia considers more than 1.5 million former Soviet citizens living in Israel as compatriots. Putin also stated that: “Russia cares a lot about who will be elected to the Knesset, and I hope that whoever enters the Knesset will continue bilateral ties between the countries and will push out relationship forward”. The meeting comes after Russian FM Sergey Lavrov’s recent declarations condemning Netanyahu’s plan to annex the Jordan Valley. With this pre-electoral visit Netanyahu probably sought to reassure the Israeli Russian-speakers, a key target for the Likud.