BICOM

Russia has demanded that Israel give it earlier warnings about airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria.

According to Israeli Hadashot TV news, the usual procedure of giving Russian personnel a warning several minutes before an Israeli operation is no longer deemed acceptable. The report notes that the demand could endanger Israeli aircraft and allow Iranian operatives more time to hide material being targeted, as Syria will soon deploy the more advanced S-300 anti-aircraft system. A senior Israeli military source said the demand was unacceptable and Israel must not acquiesce to it. Israel has carried out exercises against the S-300 system in training operations over Cyprus, and several former military officials have said Israeli jets can avoid being detected by it.

In September an Israeli strike ended with Syrian air defences firing dozens of missiles at a Russian reconnaissance plane, killing all 12 members on board. Russia blamed the incident on Israel, and supplied Syria with the S-300 air defence system. At the time of the Russian announcement General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, called the S-300 deployment in Syria a “needless escalation”.

ImageSat International published photos yesterday that appear to show four S-300 batteries deployed at a newly constructed site near the north-western city of Masyaf. The location is where Syria is believed to have chemical weapons facilities.

Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz that since the Russian plane was destroyed, there have been several instances in which Russian air defence radars in Syria were activated in connection with Israel’s air force activity in the north. He adds that while “the process of training Syrian soldiers to operate the missile batteries is expected take some time and the batteries themselves are not yet fully operative … the presence of Russian troops in the missile batteries will also make it harder for Israel to strike those batteries if missiles are fired from them at its air force jets”.

Former National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made an “uncharacteristic blunder” by presenting the S-300 as Russia’s unbeatable answer to the IDF’s air power.