Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin sat in the Kremlin Sept. 20, presenting his Russian counterparts with conclusive proof that Israel acted in good faith, professionally and with precision during an air raid in Syria that led to the downing of a Russian spy plane. Yet at the same time, the Russians were renewing their anti-Israel offensive: The Russian Embassy in Israel released a scathing statement saying that Israel’s “irresponsible” action caused the death of 15 Russian air crew members. Meanwhile, back at the Kremlin, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement of its own, saying that Israel must conduct a more serious investigation into the series of events that led to the disaster.
The Russians are playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Israel. In a statement he released Sept. 18 to restore calm, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Israel did not down the aircraft. Nevertheless, the Russians are continuing to raise and lower the flames in this serious crisis with Jerusalem. Israel’s greatest concern is that the Iranians will make a hasty effort over the coming days to expedite the transfer of precision and long-range missiles to Hezbollah, taking advantage of Israel's temporary freeze on operations and the fact that for the next two or three weeks, the IDF would not dare to continue its marathon attacks after having intensified them over the last year.
On the other hand, Israel continues to insist that, a senior security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “If arms shipments that could put us at risk continue, we will act as we have in the past. Israel reserves the right to defend itself."
During his talks in Moscow, Norkin presented the Russians with a detailed air force (IAF) report about the incident, in English and in Russian. The report included the numbers of anti-aircraft missiles that the Syrians fire imprecisely, even indiscriminately in response to Israel’s aerial attacks. It is assumed that Norkin was trying to prove to his Russian counterparts that it was the Syrians who acted irresponsibly.
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