In Moscow, Netanyahu meets with with Greek counterpart over dinner.
By BYBY HERB KEINONNetanyahu in Moscow 311(photo credit: GPO / Amos Ben Gershom)
MOSCOW - Following his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and local Jewish community leaders on Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went out to eat with his wife Sara at a Moscow restaurant and coincidentally ran into Greek Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs George Papandreou.The Greek premier, facing an economic crisis back home, asked if he could join the Netanyahus.Related analysis: Is Russia as orderly as we think?In an apparent to prod the Greeks toward action on the Iranian issue, Netanyahu said that a nuclear Iran would eventually lead to the nuclearization of Turkey, Greece’s long-time nemesis, as well as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.The hour-long discussion focused both on the economic crisis facing Athens, and the Iranian crisis facing the world. Netanyahu told Papandreou that just as what was needed for Greece to emerge to from its deep economic crisis was help from the international community along with actions taken by the Greek government, what would be needed to emerge from the Iranian crisis was concerted efforts by the rest of the world as well.If there is a crisis, Netanyahu told his counterpart, whether be iteconomic or nuclear, the international community must step in.Netanyahu said repeatedly during his Moscow visit that one of the goalsof the visit was to push the world towards taking “sanctions with teethagainst Iran.”On the second day of his Moscow visit, the prime minister met withseven leading Russian media commentators, and will give thee differentinterviews to Russian media in the early afternoon. Later in the day,he was scheduled to visit the Russian White House for a meeting withRussian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, and then return to Israel aroundmidnight