Netanyahu postpones meeting with Putin ‘due to Israeli internal political reasons’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly canceled a trip to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. The meeting was postponed because of assessments that Netanyahu’s main rival, Benny Gantz, will join forces with Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid ahead of the election, Haaretz daily said on Wednesday, citing sources in Likud. Netanyahu and Putin are expected to speak on the phone on Thursday morning and a new date for a face-to-face meeting will be set, according to diplomats. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying that the meeting was postponed due to internal Israeli political reasons.