© Haim Zach/GPORussian President Vladimir Putin • Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli sources called Netanyahu's quick Russian visit - to try and convince Putin to ignore Israel's attacks in Syria -
"a failure."The controversy between Israel and Russia regarding airstrikes of Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq continues, despite the meeting Between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President
Vladimir Putin. This was reported on Friday by
Independent Arabia.According to the report,
Moscow has prevented three Israeli air strikes on three Syrian outposts recently, and even threatened that any jets attempting such a thing would be shot down, either by Russian jets or by the S-400 anti-aircraft missiles. The source cited in the report claims
a similar situation has happened twice - and that during August,
Moscow stopped an air strike on a Syrian outpost in Qasioun, where a S-300 missile battery is placed.Moreover, it was claimed that
another air strike was planned for a week later on a Syrian outpost in the Qunaitra area and a third one on a sensitive area in Latakia. This development is what pushed Netanyahu to have his quick visit in Russia to
try and convince Putin to ignore Israel's attacks in Syria.
According to the Russian source, Putin let Netanyahu know that his country will not allow any damage to be done to the Syrian regime's army, or any of the weapons being given to it, because giving such a permission would be seen as
giving Israel leniency - something that contradicts Russia's goal of assisting the Syrian regime.
The British-Arabic news outlet reported that
Netanyahu tried to present a positive message of the cooperation between the two countries and even tried to use it for his election campaign, but it didn't work. Israeli sources who have spoken with the newspaper called the meeting "a failure." They claimed that everything regarding the air strikes in Iraq and Syria, since they were in the public eye,
embarrassed the Russians terribly in the eyes of their allies in the area - Syria, Iran and the militias that support them.
The Russian source said:
"Putin has expressed his dissatisfaction from Israel's latest actions in Lebanon," and even emphasized to Netanyahu that he "rejects the aggression towards Lebanon's sovereignty," something which had never been heard from him.Putin further stated that someone is cheating him in regards to Syria and Lebanon, and that he will not let it go without a response. According to him, Netanyahu was warned not to strike such targets in the future.
The news website added that more Israeli sources have said similar things on the subject and that the visit was meant to reduce the severity of the controversy between the countries into a tactical one, rather than an ideological one.
Comment: An interesting development and, assuming it's accurate or at least in the ballpark, one that speaks to the balancing act Russia has undertaken in the region.
When it comes to Israel and the Middle East, Russian policies are pragmatic rather than ideological. They have to be pragmatic and part of the 'reality-based community' if Russia is going to achieve its aim of stabilizing the Middle East with Russia as the primary 'referee' (displacing the USA). Russia obviously has a full understanding of Israeli military capability, and because of that ability, Israeli 'interests' must be respected - again, from a pragmatic point of view rather than some kind of ideological support for Israel and what it stands for.
At the same time, Russia is trying to impress on Israel that other countries in the region, including Russia, also have interests. So Russia's goal, presumably, is to find a way to accommodate all of those interests, with the understanding that compromise on all sides will be necessary.
This is obviously a difficult thing to do, not least because the Israelis believe (correctly) that they have a strong hand to dictate terms in the region (god "gave them that land" after all). Hence we see the 'leeway' that Israel is being given by Russia in periodically bombing some areas of Syria (and the Iranian interests therein).
So the "compromise" that Israel is being asked for is to limit, not stop, its bombing of Syria. And the real compromise that Syria (and Lebanon and Iran) are being asked for is to allow some of that bombing to take place. Meanwhile, Russia is quietly creating certain 'facts on the ground' - militarily and politically, with a view to achieving its broader aim of a peace and stability in the region that has not been seen for, arguably, over 100 years.
Like we said, it's a tricky business replete with lots of mutual mistrust on all sides, especially the Israeli side. Ultimately, we suspect Israeli hubris, grandiosity and delusion will lead to them paying a rather large price in a rather unexpected way.
Comment: An interesting development and, assuming it's accurate or at least in the ballpark, one that speaks to the balancing act Russia has undertaken in the region.
When it comes to Israel and the Middle East, Russian policies are pragmatic rather than ideological. They have to be pragmatic and part of the 'reality-based community' if Russia is going to achieve its aim of stabilizing the Middle East with Russia as the primary 'referee' (displacing the USA). Russia obviously has a full understanding of Israeli military capability, and because of that ability, Israeli 'interests' must be respected - again, from a pragmatic point of view rather than some kind of ideological support for Israel and what it stands for.
At the same time, Russia is trying to impress on Israel that other countries in the region, including Russia, also have interests. So Russia's goal, presumably, is to find a way to accommodate all of those interests, with the understanding that compromise on all sides will be necessary.
This is obviously a difficult thing to do, not least because the Israelis believe (correctly) that they have a strong hand to dictate terms in the region (god "gave them that land" after all). Hence we see the 'leeway' that Israel is being given by Russia in periodically bombing some areas of Syria (and the Iranian interests therein).
So the "compromise" that Israel is being asked for is to limit, not stop, its bombing of Syria. And the real compromise that Syria (and Lebanon and Iran) are being asked for is to allow some of that bombing to take place. Meanwhile, Russia is quietly creating certain 'facts on the ground' - militarily and politically, with a view to achieving its broader aim of a peace and stability in the region that has not been seen for, arguably, over 100 years.
Like we said, it's a tricky business replete with lots of mutual mistrust on all sides, especially the Israeli side. Ultimately, we suspect Israeli hubris, grandiosity and delusion will lead to them paying a rather large price in a rather unexpected way.