On 4 April, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow. Held at Netanyahu’s request, the meeting was about “events in Syria” including the “special coordination between our militaries” stated Netanyahu before departing to Moscow. During the talks, they also discussed the recovery of the body of US-born Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel, who went missing in a 1982 battle with Syrian forces in southern Lebanon following Israel’s invasion of the country. Putin added that Russia had worked to retrieve the soldier’s remains from Syria, a task asked by Netanyahu two years ago and which he thanked the President for. Netanyahu lauded the repatriation of Baumel’s remains as an “expression of mutual responsibility and feeling of unity”. The meeting was held days a few days ahead of the parliamentary elections in Israel.