Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday Tel Aviv was ready to reopen the Quneitra crossing between the occupied Golan and Damascus, a step considered by analysts as an attempt to “flirt” with Moscow following the accident of the Russian warplane two weeks ago.
Lieberman said his country was now capable to operate the crossing, both from a security and administrative point of view.
"We are ready to open the Quneitra crossing as we did in the past. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has returned to the crossing and they are prepared as well. The ball is now in the Syrian court," Lieberman said during a tour of the Quneitra border crossing in the Golan Heights, accompanied by the head of Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Yoel Strik.
The minister said the reopening merely means that security considerations now allow the crossing to operate.
Analysts in Tel Aviv said this Israeli “offer” was not only directed towards the Syrian regime but mainly towards Russia, which entered into a large diplomatic crisis with Israel since Assad's forces accidentally shot down a Russian intelligence plane while trying to repel alleged Israeli airstrikes on Syrian targets in Latakiya.
The Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing, primarily used by UN personnel, was captured four years ago by Syrian rebels, and later by other groups, until Syrian regime forces took control of it.
"The fact that we have come here, to Alpha Gate—and as far as we are concerned UNDOF forces have also begun to operate and patrol the area with the assistance of Israeli forces — means that we are ready to open the crossing," the Israeli minister said.
A senior political source in Tel Aviv said that negotiations between Israel and Russia are being conducted at various levels, and that the assessment is that when the mourning is over in Russia and the
atmosphere clears, a meeting will take place between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
