PM spoke with Putin on Sunday morning; Netanyahu: We agreed to meet soon in order to continue the important inter-military security coordination.
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday morning.
Their call was centered on military coordination following the downing of the Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft. The leaders announced a meeting in the near future. The prime minister confirmed the call, stating this morning during his weekly cabinet meeting “A short time ago I spoke with President Putin. We agreed to meet soon in order to continue the important inter-military security coordination.”
On Israel’s defense, he reiterated “Israel will act at all times to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria and to thwart the transfer of lethal weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Last week Russia completed its delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft system to Syria. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed the system’s arrival in Syria on Tuesday, as well as four launching platforms. He reported “We now control a close zone of up to 50 kilometers and the far zone of 200 kilometers from where attacks on the Syrian territory were launched.”
A Russian official, Vladimir Mikheyev of Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies, addressed the system’s deployment, announcing that Russia would use the system to monitor airspace and flight movements from the Middle East and Europe. He stated, “[Russia] will know not only that someone has entered the airspace in this region, but also that somewhere a plane is only operating on the runway, be it in Israel or Saudi Arabia or even in Europe,” adding that the “system is capable of combating precision weapons-guided bombs and missiles.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to the system’s deployment, reiterating “I cannot say that we are happy about the deployment of the S-300s. At the same time, we have no choice here. We have no opportunity to make decisions on military operations in Syria.”
Amir will give a Middle East Current Events Update from the Syrian-Israeli border on Monday, October 8, 2018 at 3:30 pm (ISRAEL TIME). The update will be added to Youtube following.
Photo: Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock.com
