Israeli Team Heads to Moscow
A team of high level Israeli military officers is in Moscow today for talks with Russian counterparts after the accidental shootdown of a Russian jet earlier this week was initially blamed on Israel. Thursday’s meeting gives Israeli officials the chance to present evidence showing they weren’t responsible for the incident and, perhaps more importantly, to shore up a complicated, but thus far durable, relationship in which Russia and Israel have coordinated military actions in Syria despite backing opposing sides in the conflict. Leading the team is Israeli Air Force chief, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin. He’s joined by Brig. Gen. Erez Meisel, Head of the IDF’s Foreign Relations Division, along with senior Air Force and intelligence officers. The delegation reportedly has evidence concerning the events Tuesday when Syrian air defense forces, allied with Russia and using Russian missiles, shot down the Ilyushin-20 surveillance plane killing 15 crew members on board. Some of that evidence was teased in briefings earlier this week. According to an article in Haaretz Thursday:
A debriefing on Tuesday morning which included the prime minister, defense minister, IDF chief of staff and senior Israel Air Force officers indicated that the Israeli fighter jets were already over Israeli airspace when the Syrian rockets were fired. The IDF spokesman said that an initial investigation showed the Syrian barrage to be wide-ranging and imprecise. The Syrians did not make sure the Russians had no planes in the air. The Russian aircraft was hit as it flew east of Latakia – in other words, farther away from where the Israeli rockets were fired (in this, Israel is rejecting the Russian claim that Israeli fighter jets were hiding behind the Russian aircraft and led to its targeting).