BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel’s aim of preventing an Iranian military entrenchment in Syria is unchanged, despite the Russian plans to supply the S-300 air defence system to the Syrian regime.

The Israeli Security Cabinet met on Tuesday morning and issued a statement saying: “The security cabinet has instructed the IDF to continue to take action against attempts by Iran to establish a military presence in Syria while continuing the security coordination with Russia.”

Netanyahu said he expressed his sincere condolences for the Russian servicemen who died when he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin after Syrian missiles shot down a Russian surveillance aircraft.

Russia announced its decision to upgrade Syria’s air defences with up to four S-300 systems on Monday. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia would “jam satellite navigation, on-board radars and communication systems of combat aircraft attacking targets in Syria,” although security experts say this has been going on for years. The Russian Ministry of Defence continues to blame Israel for creating a dangerous situation that led to the loss of their aircraft. “We believe that the Israeli Air Force and those who were making decisions about these actions are fully to blame for the tragedy that happened to the Russian Il-20 plane,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement on Sunday.

The anti-aircraft unit will reportedly be equipped with Russian tracking and guidance systems, and is intended to “calm down some hotheads” whose actions “pose a threat to our troops,” according to Shoigu.

The White House said it hoped Russia would reconsider the move, which US National Security Adviser John Bolton called a “significant escalation” of Syria’s seven-year civil war. Alex Fishman writes in Ynet: “The Russian message to Israel is a political and unequivocal one: They do not want Israel to continue flying and launching strikes in Syria and certainly not in the current state of affairs.”

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has extensive experience tackling the S-300 system after taking part in joint military exercises with Greece involving S-300 batteries that once belonged to Cyprus.

Israeli and Russian military officials are scheduled to meet again this week in order to address the growing disagreement between the two countries. The IAF commander, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, visited Russia last week and presented extensive details of the events leading up to the incident.