Al-Anbaa, Kuwait, September 19
About two years ago a Russian fighter jet was accidentally shot done over Syrian territory by Turkish anti-aircraft missiles. This sparked a crisis between Ankara and Moscow, bringing the two countries to the brink of military confrontation. Eventually, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the incident and vowed to investigate the attack. The two leaders subsequently normalized their ties. Last week, an even more serious incident took place, this time between Russia and Israel. In the evening hours of Tuesday last week, a Russian aircraft carrying 15 soldiers was shot down over Syrian territory, killing all crew members on board. While the missiles that hit the plan were Syrian, the attack was triggered by Israeli airstrikes in Latakia. Unlike previous Israeli operations, this time the Russians had not been informed ahead of time, resulting in this unfortunate event. It now remains to be seen whether Vladimir Putin will react to the Israeli incident with the same ruthlessness with which he approached the Turkish one. A spokesperson for the Kremlin was quick to issue a statement accusing Israel of violating Syrian sovereignty. This is to be expected of the Russians. However, Moscow’s security relations with Tel Aviv are deep and complicated. The Kremlin has so far turned a blind eye to the Israeli attacks in Syria, but things may very well change moving forward. This incident could serve as the ultimate excuse for Russia to end Israel’s free reign in Syrian airspace. At the very least, it will push the Israel Air Force to keep a low profile over the course of the next few weeks in an effort to appease the Russians. Israeli military and security officials have already been dispatched to Moscow in order to conduct damage control. Whether this will be a watershed event in the future of Israeli-Russian relations in unknown. One thing, however, remains clear: this incident is yet another reminder of the urgent need to remove all foreign forces from Syria and to reach a long-lasting ceasefire in the country. –Fahed al-Hitan