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On October 9, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that he told Maxim Akimov Deputy Prime Minister of Russia during a recent meeting the Israel will continue to strike Iranian forces in Syria, despite of Moscow’s decision to supply the Syrian Air Defense Forces (SyAADF) with advanced S-300 long-range air defense systems.
Israel will continue its “legitimate activity in Syria against Iran and its proxies, which state their intention to destroy us,” Netanyahu told reporters during a press conference, according to the Times of Israel news outlet.
Furthermore, Netanyahu stated that he hopes that Israel and Russia will soon overcome the tension, which began last month when Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian city of Lattakia led to the shoot down of the Russian Il-20 intelligence plane. Russia supplied Syria with S-300 systems in repose to the incident and in order to secure its troops in the war torn country.
“I think that with common sense and goodwill we can come to a solution that will allow the continuation of the good coordination between the Russian and Israeli militaries,” Netanyahu said.
This was the first meeting between senior civilian officials of the two countries since the Il-20 incident. A more interesting meeting between Netanyahu and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is expected to be held soon.
