Apparently the Russians aren’t buying the excuses of the Israelis who went to Moscow to plead their innocence in the case of the IL-20 that was shot down over Syria last week.
One week after a Russian plane was accidentally shot down by Syrian missiles launched at Israeli fighter jets, Russia has announced it will supply the Syrian army with sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
Israel has asked the Russians for many years to avoid supplying S-300 missiles to Syria because it could limit the Israeli Air Force’s freedom of operation in Syria. The Russian announcement threatens to break the coordination mechanism between the two countries in Syria and unravel what was thought to be a close relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
That’s certainly a good way to shoot yourself in the foot when you were asking someone a favor.