Tensions Mount As Israel, Syria Exchange Fire

Israeli fighter jets destroyed a Syrian SA-5 anti-aircraft battery east of Damascus, after the missile defense system fired at Israeli reconnaissance planes conducting routine aerial flights in Lebanese airspace. It comes in the wake of a similarly dangerous episode in March, when a Syrian government installation opened fire on Israeli jets tasked with striking an arms convoy en route to Hizbullah in Lebanon. While Israel previously maintained a policy of ambiguity in relation to its military operations abroad, Jerusalem has publicly admitted to destroying over 100 regime assets in Syria. “We see the [President Bashar al-Assad] as responsible and see these missiles as a clear Syrian provocation, and it will not be accepted,” an Israeli army spokesman affirmed following the latest incident. While reinforcing that the Jewish state has no intention of entering the Syrian conflict, he nevertheless stressed that the Israel Defense Forces would respond to all hostilities. For its part, the Syrian government warned of “harsh consequences to Israel’s repeated aggressive attempts.” The heightened tensions come as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Israel for his first official visit since assuming his role in 2012. Moscow intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2015, prompting Israel and Russia to devise a de-confliction mechanism to prevent accidental clashes between the two militaries. Topping the agenda in Shoigu’s meetings with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Liberman and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be the Syrian theater and Jerusalem’s insistence that Iran not be allowed to gain a permanent military foothold in the country.