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Post by Daniel on Sept 14, 2015 9:47:17 GMT -5
Putin’s offer to shield & develop Israel’s gas fields predated Russia’s military buildup in Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 13, 2015
More than a fortnight ago, Russian President Vladimir put a proposition to Israel for Moscow to undertake responsibility for guarding Israel’s Mediterranean gas fields, along with the offer of a Russian investment of $7-10 billion for developing Leviathan, the largest well, and building a pipeline to Turkey for exporting the gas to Europe, debkafile reports. The offer was made to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in confidential phone conversations and through quiet envoys.
At the time, Putin did not share with Netanyahu his plans for an imminent buildup of marines, air force units, warships and missiles in Syria, although the plan had been worked out in detail with Tehran in late July. The Russian ruler put it this way: Leviathan abuts on the fringes of Lebanon’s economic water zone and is therefore vulnerable to potential sabotage by Iran, Syria or Hizballah, whether by commando or rocket attack.
A multibillion Russian investment in the field would make it a Russian project which neither Syria nor Hizballah would dare attack, even though it belongs to Israel.
But now the situation has assumed a different face. Russian forces are streaming to Latakia, and Moscow has declared the area from Tartous, Syria up to Cyprus closed to shipping and air traffic from Sept. 15 to Oct. 7 in view of a “military exercise including test firings of guided missiles” from Russian warships.
When he offered a shield for Israeli gas fields in late August, The Russian ruler knew that implementation would rest with Russian military forces on the spot, rather than Iranian and Syrian reluctance to harm Russian interests.
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www.debka.com/article/24885/Putin%E2%80%99s-offer-to-shield-develop-Israel%E2%80%99s-gas-fields-predated-Russia%E2%80%99s-military-buildup-in-Syria
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Post by Daniel on Sept 14, 2015 10:27:40 GMT -5
Russian Military Buildup in Syria Concerns Israel
September 10, 2015 | Israel Today Staff
Israeli officials have expressed concern over reports of a major Russian military buildup in neighboring Syria, a move that could have far-reaching ramifications for the Jewish state.
A number of sources have recently noted a major influx of Russian personnel and equipment, including fighter jets, into war-torn Syria, presumably to prop up the embattled regime of Bashar Assad.
“We have been informed that the Russians are entering into active intervention,” Amos Gilad, senior adviser to Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, said at a recent security conference.
Ram Ben-Barak, director-general of Israel’s Intelligence Ministry, told Reuters that this development “could [have] ramifications for us, certainly.”
The first, and most obvious, concern is that periodic Israeli strikes on Syrian targets could inadvertently result in Russian casualties, bringing Jerusalem and Moscow into direct conflict.
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www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/27365/Default.aspx
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Post by Daniel on Sept 16, 2015 8:07:41 GMT -5
Israel Looks to Avoid Conflict with Russia in Syria
By Raphael Poch September 16, 2015
“A soft answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1)
Following a recent increase in the Russian presence in Syria, Israeli officials have been reassessing how to handle “fall-out” issues arising from the ongoing Syrian civil war. Israel has until now assumed a very standoffish approach to the Syrian conflict, sporadically retaliating to attacks by targeting weapons depots and military convoys in Syria that it deemed threatening. However, with an increase of Russian military support in Syria backing President Bashar al-Assad, Israeli officials may need to change tactics.
Following US as well as regional reports which indicate that Russia’s diplomatic and logistical support for President Assad’s forces is turning into major military backing, Israel has begun putting plans in place to avoid an accidental confrontation with Moscow.
When asked by a reporter at the Interdisciplinary Center conference in Herzliya if Russian intervention in Syria might necessitate new Israeli rules of engagement, Ram Ben-Barak, director-general of Israel’s Intelligence Ministry, said that “there could certainly be ramifications for us.”
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www.breakingisraelnews.com/48928/as-russia-shores-up-support-for-assad-in-syria-israel-rethinks-strategy-middle-east/
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Post by Daniel on Sept 18, 2015 11:09:10 GMT -5
With Obama slow to act, Putin moves into Syria, upgrades Mideast influence
By Avi Issacharoff September 18, 2015
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet next week with Vladimir Putin, president of the world’s only current superpower. A statement issued by Netanyahu’s office said, in part, that the prime minister would “present the threats posed to Israel as a result of the increased flow of advanced war materiél to the Syrian arena and the transfer of deadly weapons to Hezbollah and other terror organizations.”
We can guess that somebody at the Russian Embassy in Israel passed a translation of this statement along to Moscow, causing quite a few smiles there. Putin and even Netanyahu are well aware that his warnings will not change Moscow’s old-new policy in the region.
Vladimir Putin will do whatever he likes in the Middle East for one simple reason: because he can. At present there is no other superpower to challenge him or deter him from acting in any way he wishes.
Netanyahu can console himself with the fact that he is in good company. The urgings and warnings of American Secretary of State John Kerry or of Kerry’s own boss, President Barack Obama, of increasing Russian involvement in Syria will not change Putin’s plans either. Putin has decided to do something in Syria, actively, to prevent the complete collapse of what remains of Bashar Assad’s regime. When Putin saw the West’s fumbling in the face of the unending flow of refugees from Syria, he realized that the American administration could not be relied upon when it came to stopping the civil war, and decided to act.
continue reading
www.timesofisrael.com/with-obama-slow-to-act-putin-moves-into-syria-upgrades-mideast-influence/
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Post by Daniel on Sept 30, 2015 9:46:29 GMT -5
Putin warns Israel off targeting Iranian targets in Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis September 29, 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin is concerned about Israel’s repeated attacks in Syria, he said, after talking for an hour and-a-half with President Barack Obama early Tuesday, Sept. 29, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Putin agreed that Israel’s security concerns must be taken into account in Syria, but he was worried by the IDF’s periodic strikes on positions in the embattled territory.
Sunday night, the IDF hit Syrian military targets with powerful Tamuz artillery rockets after two errant Syrian rockets landed on the Golan.
debkafile’s military sources report that they hit the artillery command post of the Syrian army’s 90th Brigade, which is stationed outside Quneitra. Syrian and Lebanese sources say the Syrian deputy commander was injured.
The message the Russian president issued, straight after his meeting with Obama, was that Moscow would not put up with Israeli strikes in Syria, even in response to an attack.
This comment and the events leading up to it raise four questions:
1. Why did Putin take the trouble to respond in person to a trivial incident like a cross-border exchange of fire on the Golan directly after his highly-important talks with Obama?
2. Why was he so concerned by this incident? It occurred just a week after the Russian president and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had agreed in Moscow to set up a coordination mechanism to prevent clashes between IDF and Russian forces. And in any case Russian forces were not involved.
continue reading
www.debka.com/article/24913/Putin-warns-Israel-off-targeting-Iranian-targets-in-Syria-
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Post by Daniel on Oct 13, 2015 9:07:11 GMT -5
Israel is braced for Russian aerial intrusions over its Golan border
DEBKAfile Special Report October 9, 2015
Uncertainty still hangs over Moscow’s precise intentions regarding its air force flights over the Golan close to Israel’s border – even after two days of discussions on coordination ended in Tel Aviv Thursday, Oct. 8 between the Russian Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Nikolay Bogdanovsky and his Israeli counterpart Maj. Gen. Yair Golan. A coordination mechanism between the two air forces was left as unfinished business for further discussion, debkafile’s military sources report. So it is still not clear to Israel what is supposed to happen if Russian fighters and bombers enter the Syrian-Israeli border district and slip over into Israeli air space.
The bilateral talks left Israel with the impression that this was a distinct possibility.
Israeli and Western aviation and intelligence experts don’t see how Israel can prevent Russia providing air cover for Syrian and Hizballah forces when the war moves close to the Israeli and Jordanian borders of southern Syria.
Last week, Russian SU-30 and Su-24 warplanes twice violated Turkish air space in the southern province of Hatay (called Alexandretta on Syrian maps). Although after the Russian defense ministry apologized for the the first intrusion as accidental and lasting just a few seconds, our military sources are certain that the Russians were in fact deliberately testing Turkish air defenses.
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www.debka.com/article/24942/Israel-is-braced-for-Russian-aerial-intrusions-over-its-Golan-border
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Post by Daniel on Nov 4, 2015 9:57:25 GMT -5
‘Russian alliance places Israel in peril’
October 27, 2015 | Charles Gardner
The peril in which Israel has been placed by Russia’s new Middle Eastern alliances was highlighted at a London conference held in the shadow of the UK Parliament.
In the run-up to the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the so-called Arab Spring, it was noted that Russia’s new link with Iran, Iraq and Syria – sworn enemies of the Jewish state – was hardly a recipe for stability even if the intention was to deal effectively with the Islamic State terrorists.
Various leaders were addressing a gathering of Christian intercessors, linked with a campaign known as Together for the Nation, called to meet for urgent prayer (in light of the current grave crises facing the UK and the world) at the Emmanuel Centre in Marsham Street, Westminster.
Dr Clifford Hill, an eminent sociologist and author, repeated a statement made some years ago by a friend of his, the late Lance Lambert, that when the Shi’ite and Sunni streams of Islam have settled their differences, they would turn their attention to Israel.
And British evangelist David Hathaway pointed out that in giving military backing to Syria and their allies, Vladimir Putin was supporting the bitter enemies of Israel – “currying favour with the very people who will launch the attack on Jerusalem,” referring to a biblical prophecy of an Armageddon-style battle in the region (Ezekiel 38).
He warned against Britain backing the wrong side – i.e. Putin – adding that getting rid of Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gadaffi had been big mistakes that had “unleashed the tiger” of Islamic fundamentalism.
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www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/27657/Default.aspx
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Post by Daniel on Nov 28, 2015 15:54:14 GMT -5
Russian Jets Enter Israeli Airspace, Hotline Prevents Incidents
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz November 28, 2015
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, director of the Political-Military Affairs Bureau at Israel’s Defense Ministry, stated that Russian military jets have breached Israeli airspace since entering the Syrian conflict, but coordination with Israel prevents a confrontation like the one that occurred between Turkey and Russia last week that led to Turkey shooting down a Russian Sukoi bomber.
At a public event in Beersheba on Saturday, Gilad said:
“Russian air force pilots at times cross into Israeli air space. Thanks to the excellent security coordination which started right after the meeting between Netanyahu and Putin, and in which defined areas of operation were set, the Israel Defense Forces and the Russian military agreed on security agreements. If there is a violation , we know what to do and how to prevent an escalation.”
A senior Israeli official spoke to the Jerusalem Post about this concern.
“Our policy is that we do not attack or down anything that is Russian. Russia is not an enemy,” he said. “We are trying to avoid tension with the Russians. Both sides wish not to get to a point where two pilots, an Israeli and a Russian, will meet in the air and will be unsure of what to do. We are not going near the aerial zone in which they are operating, and they don’t come close to where we are operating.”
continue reading
www.breakingisraelnews.com/54908/russian-jets-enter-israeli-airspace-hotline-prevents-incidents-idf/
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txlulu
Junior Member
Posts: 131 
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Post by txlulu on Nov 28, 2015 21:02:05 GMT -5
Good to know someone is trying to avoid tension with the Russians. This whole think makes me think of the Babylonians and the handwriting on the wall. I see God's hand in all of this.
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!!
