Political sources in Tel Aviv said on Tuesday that after holding two phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and following a visit by commander of the Israeli Air Force to the Russian Defense Ministry, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu decided to ask for the help of the US administration to de-escalate Russian-Israeli tensions and stop the delivery of S-300 air defense missile system to Damascus.
A source close to Netanyahu said the S-300 crisis would be raised during talks held this week between US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York.
Moscow announced on Monday it would supply the Syrian government with modern S-300 missile defense systems.
And despite objections from Washington and Tel Aviv, Russia insisted on Tuesday it has the “right” to offer “military and technical support to its partners.”
Last Monday, Putin defended Moscow’s move during a telephone call with Netanyahu, by telling the Israeli PM that the Russian move was “aimed primarily at fending off any potential threat to the lives of Russian servicemen.”
If delivered, the air defense missile system is capable of intercepting air assault weapons at a distance of more than 250 kilometers and hit simultaneously several air targets.
Meanwhile, the newly elected US special representative to Syria James Jeffrey told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday that US forces would remain in Syria to achieve three objectives: Uproot ISIS, remove Iranian forces from Syria and implement a political operation that leads to the establishment of a committee, which should later draft a new Syrian constitution and hold elections.
Jeffrey said he was convinced that head of Syrian regime Bashar Assad could be removed from power through a constitutional operation, similar to what happened with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
He said Washington was coordinating with Russia at all political and military levels.
“We want the Russians to use their power to secure that Iran-backed forces leave Syria,” Jeffrey explained.
