The best of Israel’s security brains, including the intelligence branches, are now examining the ramifications of the Russian withdrawal. Another scenario is also being probed, however — that the withdrawal may be a public relations move by Putin and actually involve an insignificant thinning of forces, but with continued military involvement on a daily basis.

“Putin succeeded in misleading the world several times in recent years. We never know what he is really planning,” said a highly placed Israeli source to Al-Monitor speaking on condition of anonymity. “Don’t forget that the Russians also denied their military involvement in Syria at first, until their cargo planes started landing in Latakia. So far the dust hasn’t settled, and no one knows what Putin really wants.”

One of Israel’s top experts on Russia is Yaakov Kedmi (Kazakov), who had once headed “Nativ”, a covert Israeli organization tasked with connecting to Soviet Jews behind the Iron Curtain, before the fall of Soviet Russia. Kedmi told Al-Monitor, “Putin entered Syria to build a base for the Russian navy, which is attempting to improve its balance of power vis-a-vis the [US] Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, and at the same time, to stabilize [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad’s regime, to prevent him from collapsing. Putin achieved both of these results.”