Political sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the Israeli military leadership has been concerned about the failure of the political leadership to resolve the crisis with Russia in the past two months since the downing of a Russian spy plane " Il-20" on September 17.
They said that the continuation of this crisis is causing a conflict of interests with Russia and narrowing Israel's combat choices against the Iranian presence in Syria and even against "Hezbollah’s" activity in Lebanon.
This crisis is even affecting the situation on the southern front with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements, sources added.
They explained that one of the most important reasons for Israel’s enthusiasm to compromise in dealing with the developments in Gaza Strip and seek reaching a truce with Hamas is due to concerns about the situation at the northern borders.
“The main issue Israel faces in Syria lies in limiting its operation choices after acting freely for the past seven years and carrying out public and secret attacks,” an official source close to the matter said on Sunday.
Via hundreds of airstrikes and special operations, the army and the intelligence agencies have worked to distance the danger of another war and reduce the enemy’s operational capabilities in the event that war does break out.
In Syria and Lebanon, the campaign initially focused on preventing Iran from smuggling advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, a report said.
“But over the last year or so, a new mission has been added – preventing Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria. This peaked with a flurry of incidents between the Israel Defence Forces and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards last winter and spring.”
However, the stabilization of the Assad regime in Syria is gradually changing the situation.
Whether Russia is truly still angry over the downing of a Russian spy plane during an Israeli air strike two months ago or is just exploiting it to dictate new strategic rules in the north, the result is the same.
Israel hasn’t completely halted airstrikes in Syria; two have been reported since the plane was downed. But it’s clear that Russia is making things tougher.
Even this week’s hasty meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of an international conference in Paris evidently hasn’t resolved the crisis.
Putin said Thursday that he wasn’t planning another meeting with Netanyahu anytime soon.
Russia has made it clear to Israel in many ways that the status quo ante is gone, an internal report from the security body in Tel Aviv indicated.
The air force’s energetic activity was disrupting Russia’s main project — restoring the Assad regime’s control over most of Syria and signing long-term contracts with Head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad that will protect Moscow’s security and economic interests in the country, the report explained.
It emphasized that the change is evident in the more aggressive tone on the hotline connecting Israel Air Force headquarters to the Russian base in Khmeimim, in northwest Syria, whose purpose is to prevent aerial incidents between Israel and Russia.
It’s also evident in the confrontational attitude of Russian planes and anti-aircraft batteries in Syria.
