Missile will 'push Israel to reconsider' before striking Syria

DAMASCUS - Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said on Tuesday that the arrival of Russia's S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria will push Israel to reconsider before striking Syria again.

His comments came against the backdrop of recent remarks by Russian officials that Moscow would soon deliver the system to Syria.

Mekdad said it would only be used if Syria was attacked.

The Russian move came days after Israeli F-16 jets struck Syrian military positions in Syria's Latakia province and was accused by Russia of being behind the targeting of a Russian aircraft during the assault.

"Israel, which has got used to carrying out many attacks under different pretexts, would have to recalculate and reconsider before attacking again," Mekdad said.

He stressed that "the aggression on Syria is an aggression on the forces that fight against terrorism".

Asked if Israel would launch other attacks on Syria after obtaining the missiles, Mekdad said: "Let the Israelis try and we will defend ourselves as we have done before."

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday Israel would continue its military operations in Syria.

"We will continue to act to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and we will continue the military coordination between the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the Russian army," Netanyahu told reporters before boarding a flight to New York for the UN General Assembly.

The Israeli leader said his country "has been very successful" in the last three years in preventing Iran's military buildup in Syria and its attempts to deliver lethal weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Last week, the Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft was mistakenly shot down by the Syrian air defenses, which were intercepting Israeli missile attack on Syrian bases in northwestern Latakia.

All 15 Russian crew members aboard died.

The Russians have accused Israel of failing to give Russia adequate notice of the airstrike.

On Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry charged that the Israeli F-16 jets had used its reconnaissance plane as cover while carrying out the strikes. "The actions of the Israeli fighter pilots, which resulted in the loss of life of 15 Russian servicemen, either lacked professionalism or were an act of criminal negligence, to say the least," the ministry said.

Russia, which entered the course of the war to back the Syrian army in 2015, has two Russian-run bases in Syria, the first is an air base in Hmeimim in the Latakia countryside and the other is a naval base in Tartus city on the Mediterranean coast.

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 09/27/2018 page12)