Netanyahu confirms Russia helped broker to exchange prisoners between Israel and Syria, Dodges reports that vaccines were in trade

After a top Israeli national security blog reported that a prisoner with Syria was secretly mediated by Russia – that Israel would buy the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for Syria to close the deal – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke the news Saturday night half confirmed and half denied. . “I want to say that not even one Israeli vaccine went for this thing,” Netanyahu said. “I thank President Putin for doing this. And more than that I will not add, because it was the Russian request. The terms of the agreement were first reported by blogger Richard Silverstein and later confirmed by The New York Times. Israeli authorities described the prison exchange as a standard change; an unnamed Israeli female prisoner in Syria for two shepherds. A source also referred to the Wall Street Journal that vaccines were part of the agreement. The guardian reported in January that indigenous Palestinians were excluded from Israel’s vaccination.