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BICOM

Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre

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Yaalon: if Russian weapons reach Syria, we’ll know how to act

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Following Russia’s announcement of the sale of an advanced anti-aircraft system to the Syrian government will go ahead, Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s defence minister, told reporters yesterday that the advanced anti-aircraft system had not yet left Russia, but that Israel would know how to act once it did.
Russia’s pronouncement was a response to the European Union’s (EU) decision earlier this week to allow its’ arms embargo of Syria to expire, paving the way for member states to potentially supply arms to moderate Syrian opposition groups. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, accused the EU of “throwing fuel on the fire” and said that delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft system to the Assad regime would be completed and would be a “stabilising factor”. Installation of the advanced ground to surface missile system would effectively end the prospect of an international no-fly zone in Syria.

The S-300 system is capable of intercepting aircraft at a range of over sixty miles and could also challenge Israel’s air superiority in the region. Earlier this month, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him to cancel the S-300 arms deal, warning that should the Assad regime utilise the sophisticated system against Israeli aircraft it would prompt an Israeli response and could plunge the region into war.   

Yesterday, Defence Minister Ya’alon responded to Rybakov’s announcement, giving further warning that furnishing Assad with the S-300 could spark military escalation. Ya’alon said, “Clearly this move is a threat to us” adding that although “The deliveries have not taken place, I can attest to this, and I hope they do not. But if, by some misfortune, they arrive in Syria, we will know what to do.”

In a related development, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann warned yesterday that his country could withdraw three hundred troops from the United Nations’ peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights, if the UK or others arm Syrian rebel forces.