Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, during which Netanyahu emphasized Israel’s position, in which it will not tolerate an Iranian military presence in its northern neighbor, Syria. The meeting with the Russian Defense Minister came just one day after the Israeli air force destroyed a Syrian anti-aircraft SA-5 battery that Israel said had fired a missile at its fighter-jets while they were on a reconnaissance mission over neighboring Lebanon. Russia, which is the key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015, joining a de facto alliance with Iranian forces, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, as well as other Shi’ite Muslim militias assisting Damascus in its efforts to defeat the Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim insurgent groups. Meanwhile, Israel fears an anticipated victory by the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad could leave Iran with a permanent garrison in Syria, extending a threat posed from neighboring Lebanon by the Iranian-proxy Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official told TV7 that the reason behind Israel’s continuous attempts to receive Russian assurances with regard to the future of Syria resides in the fact that the United States, Israel’s closest ally, has not established a strategy with regard to the Iranian threat in the war-torn-country, continuing to maintain its position – even after President Trump announced a strategy on the Islamic Republic – that its only focus in Syria is to eradicate the Islamic State. The official’s statement was confirmed by both American and Russian sources who referred to a phone conversation that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held with his Russian Counterpart Sergei Lavrov some nine days ago, in which the American top diplomat provided Moscow with assurances that Washington’s only goal in Syria, begins and ends with the aim of eradicating the Islamic State. Lavrov said with regard to the conversation, “The last time we talked over the phone, on October 9, Rex Tillerson has once again given assurances that Washington’s only goal in Syria is fighting Islamic State, nothing else. If that’s the case then it won’t be difficult to dispel doubts of our military staff and I hope concrete answers to concrete questions will be professionally presented,” the Russian top diplomat said during a press conference.