Russia to supply antiaircraft missiles to Syria
MOSCOW - Russia said Monday it would equip Syria with sophisticated air-defence systems - a move that could worsen a rift with Israel by limiting its ability to bomb across its northern border.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow would send Russia’s powerful S-300 ground-to-air missile systems to Syria, a longtime ally, in the next two weeks. Israel, which has repeatedly bombed Iranian targets in Syria, had long opposed such deliveries, and Russia has in the past abided by Israel’s request.
But the downing last week of a Russian reconnaissance plane with 15 service members aboard changed the dynamic. The plane was shot down by a Syrian missile, but Russia faulted Israel for the crash because an Israeli fighter jet allegedly had used the Russian plane as a screen against Syria’s air defences.
Israel, by contrast, said its air force had not violated any agreements with Russia and that Israeli jets had already returned to Israeli airspace when the missiles were launched. The crash was one of the deadliest incidents for regular Russian service members in the Syrian war.
“Today, the situation has changed, for no fault of ours,” Shoigu said in a televised statement Monday announcing the S-300 deliveries.
Shoigu said Russia will also jam military aircraft communications in the airspace next to Syria over the Mediterranean Sea, while upgrading Syria’s air-defense command systems.
Russian officials did not, however, signal a desire to fundamentally alter the relationship with Israel - a key element of the Kremlin’s push to build its influence in the Middle East.
The flare-up in tensions between Russia and Israel marks a turnabout after months of personal diplomacy between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the two leaders forged a close personal relationship. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman described Israel’s actions leading to the shoot-down last week as “ungrateful,” given what he said were Russian accommodations to Israeli requests, including relocating Iranian troops from the border of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and providing Russian patrols in the area.
“You know that Israel and the Russian Federation have quite advanced relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. “Everything had worked right up until the tragedy that occurred recently.”
Putin informed Syrian President Bashar al-assad about the missile delivery in a phone call on Monday, according to a statement issued by Syria’s presidency. Although Putin had sought last week to tamp down tensions over the downing of the plane, calling the incident an “accident,” he told Assad he “held Israel responsible” for the deaths of the 15 Russian service members, the statement said.
If delivered, the S-300s would further shift the military balance in Syria in favour of Assad as well as Iran and its allied militia Hezbollah, which have vowed to maintain a presence in Syria even though the war is winding down, over Israel’s objections.
Although Russia suggested its immediate goal in supplying the missiles would be to protect Russian aircraft from accidental shoot-downs, the S-300s will also give Syria enhanced capacity to take on any of the other countries flying sorties in its crowded skies, including the United States and its allies in the coalition against the Islamic State.
Israel has fiercely lobbied against Russia providing Syria with S-300 air defense systems. Israel flies missions with relative ease over Syria, given the latter’s largely antiquated air defenses, and Israeli officials recently admitted to carrying out more than 200 bombing raids inside Syria over the past two years.
Israel says it is determined to stop Iran - a longtime foe that has sent forces to back Assad from becoming entrenched near Israel’s northern border, and to prevent the transfer of advanced missile systems to Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah.
A flurry of shuttle diplomacy by Israeli officials to Russia appeared to be paying off in May, when Russian officials said just days after a visit by Netanyahu that they were not planning on selling the system to Syria. More broadly, Israel also sees Russia as key to protecting its interests in Syria by preventing a buildup of Iranian-linked bases and infrastructure.
The deterioration in relations between Russia and Israel, along with a transfer of the S-300 system, complicates Israel’s efforts to contain Iranian influence.
“For Israel, it may have to balance more carefully the desire to limit the production of advanced missiles and prevent their transfer, with essentially direct confrontation with Syria,” said Ofer Zalzberg, a Jerusalem-based analyst with International Crisis Group. “This high-precision campaign it has been carrying out will become more difficult.”
The transfer may lead to Israel being more cautious in the short term, Zalzberg said. “I think they will become more risk-averse, though, at the same time, try and signal the opposite,” he said. “Israel will try and preserve its ability to act in Syria, which means maintaining relations with Moscow.”