(AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Mininster Avigdor Lieberman sign historic agreement to create a Russian naval base in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon. After losing their port of call in Tartus, Syria with the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, President Putin was quick to pen a far reaching security pact with the newly elected government of the Moldavian born Israeli premier. With apologies to Philip Roth, the agreement comes in the wake of mounting tensions between Israel and the United States, its long-time patron, over settlement policy in the West Bank and Israel’s heavy handed suppression of events surrounding the Palestinian Spring, now entering its tenth month.