Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York today, to join leaders from around the world at the annual United Nations General Assembly summit. Prior to his departure from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Netanyahu referred to the latest developments vis-à-vis Russia in Syria, emphasizing that while Jerusalem regrets the Russian loss of life, Israel has no other choice but to continue to act to prevent the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria. In his words, “This morning I convened the Security Cabinet which received a full update on the recent events. The Security Cabinet ministers also share in the deep sorrow of the Russian families and the Russian people. We give full backing to the IDF in its actions to defend the state. We will continue to act to prevent the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria and we will continue the security coordination between the IDF and the Russian military. To this end, I agreed with President Putin that IDF and Russian military working teams would meet soon.” Netanyahu reiterated in his statement the importance of Israel’s military coordination-mechanism with Russia, referring to it as a ‘key ingredient’ in Israel’s ongoing operational successes. According to the Israeli Prime Minister, “In the past three years Israel has been very successful in preventing both the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria and the attempts to transfer lethal weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. This is not to say that there haven’t been exceptions but all in all there has been very great success. We did this with maximum and successful security coordination with the Russian military. Since the tragic events in the skies over Syria I have spoken twice with President Putin. I expressed to him our deep regret over the loss of the crew of the Russian plane that was brought down by irresponsible Syrian anti-aircraft fire.” A senior Israeli told TV7 that Prime Minister Netanyahu will focus most of his efforts on defusing tensions with Russia and persuading Moscow not to supply the Syrian army with the advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems – a move that can complicate Israel’s efforts to thwart the Islamic Republic’s entrenchment in Syria.
