Lavrov in Israel

A report in Nezavisimaya Gazeta describes an embarrassing situation for Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as he sets off on an official visit to Israel. The visit was originally timed to coincide with the opening of a large "Russian National Exhibit" at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel-Aviv, costing in the region of $300,000. The exhibit was to have presented "science-intensive technologies in the different fields of industry, agriculture, medicine and tourism." However, at the last moment the exhibition was indefinitely delayed "for technical reasons", at the instigation of the Russian organizers.

Arutz Sheva has a different explanation, however:

Moscow said the reasons were "technical" but the Russian government has expressed its anger at Israel, which has presented evidence that Hizbullah terrorists have Russian-made weapons. Russia denies the claims.