(9.6.2016) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrapped up a two-day visit to Russia on 8 June, his third such visit in nine months, according to RFE/RL.

This unprecedented closeness between the leadership of the two nations is the result of newly converging interests in the Middle East. Both countries have an outsized military presence in the region, and both can benefit from increased strategic coordination and some old-fashioned backdoor diplomacy.