[Israel]: Call to Russia

[Zak]

State of Israel
Security Classification: Encrypted​

---

Third Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman would call his Russian counterpart on a private and encrypted line as he leaned back into his office chair, a glass of water rested on a coaster next to his phone. He scouted through various folders and documents until he was able to reach a member of the Russian cabinet.

Alex

 

[Alex]

Deputy Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, would pick up the call using an encrypted line on his phone in his Kremlin office.

"Vladimir Putin speaking."

Zak

 

[Zak]

Fortunately, due to the fact that Avigdor Lieberman was born to a Russian-speaking Jewish family, he was able to communicate with his Russian counterpart in fluent Russian.

"Deputy Prime Minister Putin, good afternoon, It's a pleasure to speak to you. How are things going in Russia?"

Alex

 

[Alex]

The fluent Russian came to a pleasant surprise.

"Things are good. The war is over and the rebuilding of Russia is going steadily. Things may never be the same here again, but at least our cities will be rebuilt before the winter.

What of you, Lieberman? I expect this call has something to do regarding the escalating situation in the Middle East?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"Let me introduce myself Mister Putin, my name is Avigdor Lieberman and I am the founder and leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose electoral base consists of Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union. As a result of the arrival in Israel during the 1990s of about one million Russian-speaking immigrants, Yisrael Beiteinu has regularly played the "king-maker" role in Israel's coalition governments and that has resulted in me holding key posts such as Minister of Finance and more recently I am currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Security.

It is good to hear that Russia is currently under renovation after the war, we have been monitoring things here in Israel over the past few months. My call today will consist of things relating to the Middle East conflict, I am not here to force you to take sides Deputy Prime Minister. I'm just enquiring into Russia's stance on the matter as we seek to further our relations with Russia."

Alex

 

[Alex]

"Russia isn't going to take a stance in the Middle East, Mr. Lieberman. Turkey has been extremely... unstable as of recently, but the history of the Levant is certainly not aiding the situation. I and the rest of the Russian government, Her Imperial Majesty included, support a peaceful resolution between your nations. If war does break out, however, Russia will keep diplomacy open between both Israel and Turkey. Does that answer your question well enough?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"It does indeed, thank you Mister Putin. The situation in the Middle East is concerning not just to us and Turkey but to other nations also. We've made contact with the Palestinian National Authority because under our government, we have taken the issue of a two-state solution and made it a high priority for the country as a whole. I'm not going to lie to you Deputy Prime Minister, I and a lot of other citizens across the country despise the thought of a two-state solution but it's for the best interests of not only Israel but our region as a whole.

I thank you for keeping diplomacy open between both countries, Prime Minister Bennett and Deputy Prime Minister Livni are currently in Australia to meet with President Mesut Yılmaz under the mediation of Australia which will hopefully allow our two countries to air any differences we may have and allow us to move forward not only for the benefit of our two countries, our region will also benefit but the whole world will also benefit because the world does not need another conflict."

Alex

 

[Zak]

Alex

 

[Alex]

"Peace is something fragile at the moment, Mr. Lieberman, it's our intend to uphold it as much as we can. It's good to hear that some progress is being made towards assuring that goal.

I assume you didn't call to give an update, however. So please, Mr. Lieberman, tell me the real reason behind this call. What is it you truly want from Moscow?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"To be quite frank Mister Putin, we don't have the capabilities to defend our country from the unstable Turkish regieme who are hellbent on desroying not only Israel as a whole but the Middle East region with their Saudi Arabian counterparts. We're asking to procure the Talwar-class frigate which will be able to bolster our defence capabilities. It is from our understanding that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are going to be conducting a naval and air embargo on the border of Israeli waters, we're currently anticipating this in the coming days due to the current protests in Turkey. Would Russia be willing to supply a limited production license to the State of Israel in order for us to protect millions of Jews across our country, including those of Russian Jews."

 

[Alex]

"One moment." Putin would place the Third Deputy Prime Minister on hold as he discussed things with the Ministry of Defense. After about ten minutes, Putin would return. "The Talwar-class frigate will be unavailable for roughly another month [IC], I'm afraid. However, we do have the Gepard-class frigate to offer. It's a state-of-the-art ship, in fact, it has only entered service this year. We can offer the Gepard-class frigate for 360,000,000.00$ per ship, unfortunately production rights will not be available due to the instability of the region your nation is in, I hope you understand. If you are willing to wait for the Talwar-class, however, we would be willing to produce them for 500,000,000.00$ per ship.

Are these ships all your nation is interested in or is there anything else you wished to ask about?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"In your previous statement, you claimed that Turkey has been unstable. Are you referring to unstable with the Middle Eastern situation or has Russia been affected by any of Turkey's unstable actions?"

Alex

 

[Alex]

"The entirety of the Middle East is unstable, Mr. Lieberman, and we cannot risk domestic productions of Russian products to any Middle Eastern nation."

Zak

 

[Alex]

"Well, if you are still interested we are able to construct the Talwar-class frigates now, if you so wish. These highly advanced stealth frigates are as modern as a ship can be. Due to the sensitive nature of this frigate, we would be willing to sell them to Israel for 520,000,000.00$ per frigate. Is this an agreeable pricing for your government, Mr. Lieberman? The Gepard-class is still available if you would rather the cheaper alternative."

Zak

 

[Zak]

"Deputy Prime Minister Putin, we would like to purchase six of these wonderful vessels with the intent of purchasing up to seven more if this is something that the Empire can accommodate. We are also asking the Empire that they don't sell these ships onto other countries unless its a must because we want to keep the technology used on board these ships between Israel and Russia."

Alex

 

[Alex]

"I'll have to speak with the Ministry of Defense and the Tsarina regarding exclusivity of the Talwar-class, however, I don't see it being an impossibility. I will state ahead of time that the Talwar-class frigate was designed for use by the Indian Navy, as such any exclusivity deal will include them as well. As for six of these vessels, the Ministry of Defense has told me the total will come to 3,120,000,000.00$. Our shipyards will begin production the moment the funds are transferred. We will be using the shipyards in St. Petersburg rather than those in the Black Sea to avoid any potential interference from the Turks.

Is there anything we can help with? Was there anything you wished to expand on regarding Russo-Israeli relations, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"That's wonderful news and any agreement with the Indians would be most welcome. We will have the funds transferred over momentarily. As far as I'm aware, there's nothing on my end. Is there anything you wanted to discuss before we conclude this call Mister Putin?"

Alex

 

[Alex]

"Actually, there was one more thing. Russia is expanding its fleet of UAVs and we have been eyeing up the IAI Searcher 2 surveillance UAV. The Ministry of Defence was hoping to work out a deal to acquire domestic production rights for this UAV. In return for these rights, we would be willing to produce your next batch of Talwar-class frigates at base production price, saving you a total of 728,000,000.00$. What do you think?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"I think this is a wonderful idea, Deputy Prime Minister. It further progresses the friendship between the State of Israel and the Russian Empire and we will pass this onto the Ministry of Defence to have the appropriate team deal with this."

The line was cut short for a few minutes as the Deputy Prime Minister tended to business before reappearing on the private and encrypted line a short while later. The Russian Empire was granted a copy of the domestic production rights for the IAI Searcher 2 surveillance UAV.

"You should have a copy of the domestic production rights with your Ministry of Defence. I have just confirmed this with our Ministry of Defence who have completed the deal on our end."

Alex

 

[Alex]

"Wonderful. That'll be all, thank you Deputy Prime Minister.

Let us know if you require anything else in the future."

With that, Putin would end the call.