Russia will sell antiaircraft missiles to Syria
Putin: It will be more difficult for Israel 'to fly over' Assad's palace.
The day after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israel's
Channel 1 that his country's plan to
sell antiaircraft missles to Syria is a "done deal," Israeli president Ariel Sharon said the plan was "a danger to Israel" and that he plans to bring it up with Vladimir Putin during the Russian president's historic visit to Israel next week.
In the interview with
Channel 1, reports the Israeli daily
Ha'aretz, Mr. Putin let slip the reason behind Syria's quest for the missiles -
Israeli flights over Assad's residence.
The SA-18 missiles Russia is selling Syria "will of course make it difficult to fly over the residence of the Syrian president," [Putin] bluntly stated yesterday. "It will make flying low difficult," implying what has long been believed to be the reason for the sale of the anti-aircraft missiles: Syrian embarrassment over Israeli air force planes "buzzing" presidential palaces in Syria to issue warnings to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Ha'aretz also reports that Putin told Mr. Sharon that the missiles would be vehicle mounted and "impossible" to convert into shoulder-launched rockets that could "end up in the hands of one of the terror organizations that Damascus hosts." Putin also said the missile sale would not "change the balance of power" in the Middle East.
But
Reuters reports that Western defense analysts say the missiles, known as Strelets, could be "
easily dismantled to make them portable."
The decision to go ahead with the sale comes the week before Putin is to visit Egypt, Israel and the
Palestinian territories. The trip will be the first by a Russian or Soviet president to Israel. The
BBC reports that Sharon will
use Putin's trip as an opportunity to press him directly to cancel the deal.
Sharon told Israeli radio he was not in a position to intervene in "Russia's sale of weapons to other countries" but he would make his fears clear to the visiting Russian president. But
Ariga.com, an Israeli opinion and news site, notes that Sharon believes he
cannot press Putin too hard because it might "open the way for others to intervene in Israeli arms sales."
MosNews, a Russian news website, reports that this will
not be the first time Russia and Israel have clashed over a planned missile sale to Syria.
In January Russian-Israeli relations were brought to the brink of a serious crisis due to Moscow's determination to sell Iskander high-precision tactical missile complexes to Syria.
Although not exactly the same planned missile deal that worried Jerusalem earlier this year, it is nonetheless very similar.
The Daily Star reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom Wednesday also called on Russia to fight "extremists" in Syria and Iran if it wants to "play an important role" in the Middle East. He also said that Israel hopes to issue a joint statement with Russia next week "condemning anti-Semitism," which is on the rise in Russia.
On as more upbeat note,
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this week that top members of the Israeli Knesset feel that Putin's visit will help bolster ties with Russia and "
advance peace in the Middle East."
Also...
•
IDF reviews acquittal of officer who killed UK journalist (
Ha'aretz)
•
Immigrant From US Moving to Jewish Gaza 'For Good' (
Arutz Sheva)
•
Israel's new, but not improved security barrier (
Economist)
•
AIPAC: Staffers fired because of revelations from FBI probe (
JTA, Israel)
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Tom Regan
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