Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu met in Moscow on Thursday - for the 13th time since 2015. But this meeting was not a routine date. Not only the timing - five days before the parliamentary elections in Israel - makes one sit up and take notice: the visit focused on the handing over of the remains of Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel, who has been missing for 37 years.

Baumel, born in 1960 in Brooklyn and emigrating to Israel with his parents when he was ten years old, had fought as First Sergeant of the Israeli Army in the First Lebanon War in 1982. Since the battle against units of the Syrian army for the village of Sultan Yaacoub in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley lost the track of Baumel and his two comrades Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz. Whether the three soldiers had fallen dead or alive in the hands of the Syrian military remained unclear for a long time. Baumel's family had wanted to receive evidence in 2006 that their son was living in Syrian captivity.

IDF / HANDOUT / EPA EFE / REX

Zachary Baumel (undated)

Now the family has the certainty: Baumel is dead, his remains can be buried in Israel on Thursday. The discovery, identification and return of the corpse are the result of close diplomatic and intelligence cooperation between Israel and Russia. And this cooperation was celebrated by Netanyahu and Putin at their meeting in the Kremlin.

Lieberman made contacts with Moscow

"Thank you, Mr. President, for your personal friendship and your attitude," Netanyahu told journalists in Moscow on Putin. "We share common values." As was the case with his meeting with US President Donald Trump early last week at the White House, Netanyahu, just before the Knesset vote, signals that I have influence in the US and Russia - and that pays off for Israel.

Both in the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which sealed Trump in the presence of Netanyahu, and in the homecoming of the dead soldier, the opposition to challenger Benny Gantz has no choice but to express their praise.

According to Israeli media reports, Israel and Russia spent two years working to locate Baumel's body and bring it home. After Avigdor Lieberman, who was born in the Soviet Union in May 2016, became defense minister, he used his good contacts to Moscow to speed up the search.

The Israeli military censorship keeps the exact location of the body secret so far. Israeli media, however, refer to a report by the Lebanese television broadcaster Al-Mayadeen, which is wired to the Syrian regime. Thus, the remains were buried in a cemetery in the Palestinian refugee camp Jarmuk on the outskirts of Damascus. Jarmuk was in the hands of the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) between April 2015 and May 2018. After the reconquest, the Syrian army and the Russian military had located the body there. "We are very happy that he now receives the necessary military honors at home and that his relatives can now bring flowers to his grave," said Putin.

Without Putin, nothing is going on in Syria

In a small ceremony at the Ministry of Defense, the Russian army handed Netanyahu a coffin decorated with the Israeli flag, in which Baumel's personal belongings are to be found.

Kobi Gideon / GPO / Getty Images

Coffin with Israeli flag

Russian soldiers in parade uniform also honored the fallen with a wreath in the Russian national colors.

The handover of the bones is also a success for the Russian head of state: he can present himself as an honest broker who gives the Syrian regime concessions. And he can present his ally Bashar al-Assad as a statesman with whom one can act despite all difficulties. Not even the US recognition of the Israeli Golan annexation, which had angered the Syrian regime, prevented the surrender of the native American Baumel.

In total, the remains of 20 people from Syria have been brought to Israel in recent weeks. Baumel is the first to be identified. Possibly in the coming weeks further Israeli destinies will be clarified after decades.