Post by Daniel on Oct 17, 2018 10:38:23 GMT -5
Israeli-Russian Relations: Where Are They Headed?
Joseph Puder
October 17, 2018
At last Sunday’s Cabinet session, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. This would be the first meeting between these two “old friends” since the downing of the Russian spy plane last month, and the subsequent tension between Moscow and Jerusalem. Russia first blamed Israel for the downing of the Russian spy aircraft (Il-20) with its 15-member crew, when in fact it was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire, during an Israeli attack on an Iranian-Syrian base in Latakia. In a telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Putin, the latter absolved Israel of responsibility over the downing of the plane. Still, the incident soured relations between Russia and Israel, and resulted in Russia providing the Assad regime with the vaunted anti-aircraft S-300 missile system, which has been recently delivered. It seems as if Russia’s accusatory tune toward Israel was an excuse to deliver the S-300 missiles to Syria, likely an attempt to restrict Israeli operations in Syria against Iranian and Syrian targets.
Vladimir Shamanov, Chairman of Russia’s State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Defense Committee told TASS (Russian news service) on October 9, 2018, that Putin and Netanyahu will discuss air cooperation in their upcoming meeting. Russia and Israel have been successful thus far at de-conflicting military actions in the highly complexed Syrian theatre. Shamanov pointed out that the situation in Syria has drastically changed now that the S-300 missile defense system was placed in Syria. He added, however that, “There is no danger for Russian aircraft in the airspace of Israel, which is adjacent to Syria.”
Vladimir Shamanov, Chairman of Russia’s State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Defense Committee told TASS (Russian news service) on October 9, 2018, that Putin and Netanyahu will discuss air cooperation in their upcoming meeting. Russia and Israel have been successful thus far at de-conflicting military actions in the highly complexed Syrian theatre. Shamanov pointed out that the situation in Syria has drastically changed now that the S-300 missile defense system was placed in Syria. He added, however that, “There is no danger for Russian aircraft in the airspace of Israel, which is adjacent to Syria.”
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