Unbeknownst to many, a potential geopolitical shift may have occurred this month – in Israel’s relations with its neighbor Syria, and ardent Damascus ally Russia.
Ever since the Syrian conflict began in earnest in 2012, Israel has enjoyed near impunity in its ability to launch all manner of military strikes against neighboring Syria. Israel has always claimed it was doing so to ‘defend itself’ against alleged threats from Iranian forces and Hezbollah stationed inside Syria and fighting alongside Syria and Russia against the various brigades of al Qaeda ‘rebels’ and ISIS militants who have besieged the country over the last 7 years. When Russia entered the fray in 2015, Israel continued its provocations, and Russia found itself caught between an extremely volatile situation trying to balance the interests of its partners in Damascus against the very real possibility that Israel and US were attempting to escalate tensions in order to trigger a wider war in the region, and beyond. Things came to an uncomfortable head when Israel engaged in an act of deception which led to the accidental shoot-down by Syrian air defenses of an IL-20 Russian navigation aircraft and the death of 15 Russian servicemen on board.
However, this week we learned that Russia may have already blocked three Israeli attacks against Syria over the last month.
Reports by Independent Arabia have cited a Russian source saying that Russian military had threatened Tel Aviv that it would bring down Israeli warplanes by using either its own fighter jets or its S-400 missile defense system.
The Jerusalem Post also reported:
The source cited in the report claims a similar situation has happened twice – and that during August, Moscow stopped an air strike on a Syrian outpost in Qasioun, where a S-300 missile battery is placed.
Moreover, it was claimed that another air strike was planned for a week later on a Syrian outpost in the Qunaitra area and a third one on a sensitive area in Latakia. This development is what pushed Netanyahu to have his quick visit in Russia to try and convince Putin to ignore Israel’s attacks in Syria. According to the Russian source, Putin let Netanyahu know that his country will not allow any damage to be done to the Syrian regime’s army, or any of the weapons being given to it, because giving such a permission would be seen as giving Israel leniency – something that contradicts Russia’s goal of assisting the Syrian regime.
Bibi’s Busted ‘Electioneering’
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing for his upcoming election run-off. He has Grabbed on to any potential issue which can be used to his advantage in his campaign – particularly in the area of ‘security’ (military affairs). This includes his relationship with Putin and Russia. Netanyahu has attempted to paint a model of cooperation and synchronization in terms of its mutual security objectives. According to the Independent, Israeli sources have said the recent Putin-Netanyahu meeting in Sochi was “a failure,” even though the Israeli press at the time were touting it as “pre-election support from Putin.” But that wasn’t the whole story. It seems that Netanyahu was unable to gloss-over the fact that in the space of only the last few weeks, Israel has attacked no less than 4 of its neighbours, with unprovoked military strikes waged against Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and in Gaza. This has been hugely embarrassing for Moscow and has undermined its relations with regional security partners upon which it now depends, namely Syria, Iraq and Iran.
More on this story from Al Masdar News…
The Russian military allegedly prevented the Israeli Air Force from conducting three different attacks on Syria since the start of September, Independent Arabia reported on Friday.
Citing a Russian source, the Independent said the Russian military threatened to bring down the Israeli warplanes using their own fighter jets or their S-400 system.
Once such attack was allegedly foiled by the Russian military at turn of the month. In particular, the report said the Russian military prevented an Israeli attack on a missile battery in the Qassioun Mountain area of Damascus.
Another foiled attack allegedly took place in the Al-Quneitra Governorate, when an Israeli fighter jet was heading northwest towards the Syrian coast.
“These developments prompted Netanyahu (Israeli PM) to visit Russia urgently to try to persuade Putin (Russian President) to continue his policy of turning a blind eye to Israel’s attacks in Syria; however, the Russian president told his Israeli visitor that his country would not allow them to harm Assad’s forces or weapons supplied to the regime, saying that allowing this would be considered collusion with Israel and a nuisance for the Russians, especially since Russia considers itself the savior of the Syrian regime,” the publication claimed.
The publication’s claims coincided with a previous report from several Russian publications about Russian Su-35 jets intercepting Israeli warplanes near the Lebanese border.
Neither Russian nor Israel has commented on these claims.
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