Reports: Russia gives Syria green light to shoot down Israeli planes

After Israel attacked the Assad regime’s military positions in response to projectiles fired from Syria that exploded inside Israel, Russia called on Israel to show restraint and has allegedly given Syria permission to shoot down Israeli planes that cross into its territory.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on Israel to “show restraint” and to “avoid any provocations” in the Syrian Golan Heights.

“There is the need to show restraint and not to allow any provocations in the Golan Heights,” Lavrov said commenting on an airstrike carried out by the Israeli jets in Syria’s Golan Heights on Tuesday, according to the Russian TASS news agency.

Israel has carried out several airstrike against the Assad regime’s military positions in recent days in response to projectiles fired from Syria that exploded inside Israel. At least 11 projectiles have exploded in Israel in the past two weeks – spillover from the Syrian civil war being waged along Israel’s northern border.

Despite President Bashar al-Assad’s multiple crimes against his country committed over the course of five years of warfare, Russia has offered close support to his regime and has sent military forces to support his retreating army, even at the cost of Russian lives.

Lavrov posited that the situation in the Golan Heights reflects the overall destabilization of the Middle East and the growing terrorist threat that needs to be countered.

“There are terrorists in the Golan Heights who have been recognized by everyone as enemies of mankind. But the fight against them should be conducted in the framework of the UN Security Council’s resolutions,” Lavrov stressed. “We proceeded from this in our contacts with the Israeli and Syrian colleagues and other countries of this region,” he added.

Russia’s message may have already taken affect. Israel refrained from responding to a projectile that landed in its territory on Wednesday, after conducted airstrikes in response to five previous similar incidents in the last week.

In the meantime, Arab media reports that Russia has given Assad’s forces a green light to shoot down Israeli aircraft while they are conducting strikes in Syria, Israel’s NRG news reported Thursday.

Syrian forces fired surface-to-air missiles at Israel warplanes on Monday. The missiles missed their target. Arab media reports that Moscow gave full consent to the launching.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Golan HeightsIAFLavrovRussiaSyriaSyrian Civil War