The Ministry ofDefense attributed last Monday's "chain oftragic circumstances", asPresident Putin described it, tothe reckless midair tactical maneuver that an Israeli jet carried outin order toevade an incoming S-200 missile that ended upinstead retargeting and ultimately taking downa Russian spy plane. 15 servicemen were killed inthe incident, and the hitherto excellent relationship betweenRussia and Israel was immediately put onlife support.
The two parties had previously agreed toa so-called "deconfliction mechanism" immediately prior tothe commencement ofRussia's anti-terrorist intervention inSyria inlate September 2015 which was designed tospecifically prevent unfortunate incidents such asthis one, butMoscow accused Tel Aviv offailing toabide byits commitments afteronly informing it 25 outof the more than200 times that it bombed Syria inthe past18 months. The Ministry ofDefense also said that Israel only gave Russia less thana minute's notice duringlast week's fateful bombing run, thus making it impossible forthe spy plane tomove outof the area ofoperations and therefore contributing tothe tragedy.
In response tothe threat that Israel's recklessness poses toRussian servicemen, Moscow said that it will send S-300s toSyria and specifically remarked that this will enable it toclose parts ofthe country's airspace. Israel previously vowed todestroy the S-300s if Syria used them totarget its jets, claiming that Tel Aviv is only bombing the Arab Republic inorder tothwart Iran and Hezbollah's ambitions tobuild missiles there that it fears will be used toone day attack it. A lot ofambiguities regarding Russia's decision remain tobe clarified, such aswhether Damascus will have full and independent control overthe S-300s or not, and whether they'll be used toenforce a "no-fly zone" overthe American-occupied northeastern part ofthe country too.
However it plays outand be it symbolically or even substantively, Russia's decision tosend S-300s toSyria draws a new line inthe line forboth it and Israel.
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