“… a dangerous hub of Hezbollah activity.”
by Yochanan Visser, WESTERN JOURNALISM
Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador in the country after Friday’s unprecedented missile clash that involved Israel’s most advanced missile interception system — the Arrow 3 — which reportedly downed as many as three Russian made S-200 surface-to-air missiles after Israeli warplanes attacked a Hezbollah-bound weapon convoy in the area of Palmyra.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed with Ambassador Gary Koren “recent developments in Syria,” a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The rare Russian move indicated two things.
First, Moscow apparently understood the seriousness of the confrontation between the Syrian and the Israeli Air Force. Since the start of the civil war in Syria six years ago, Israeli warplanes had flown freely in Syrian airspace to carry out airstrikes against weapon convoys bound for Hezbollah.
Second, Russian President Vladimir Putin most likely wanted to convey a message to Israel that the rules of the game in Syria have changed now that the Russian-Iranian backed, pro-Assad coalition has regained the upper hand in the battle against mostly Sunni Islamist rebel groups and their foreign backers.
In January, after another Israeli airstrike in Syria, the Assad regime told Israel it would not tolerate anymore Israeli incursions in Syrian airspace in order to carry out attacks on Hezbollah-bound weapon convoys or to eliminate commanders of the Lebanese terror organization.
A defiant Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said after the meeting between Koren and Bogdanov in Moscow that Israel would continue to prevent weapon deliveries to Hezbollah.
“When we identify attempts to transfer advanced arms to Hezbollah, and we have intelligence information and we have the operational plan, we act to prevent it. That’s what happened and that’s what will happen,” the Israeli told reporters.
Israel had not sent Moscow an advance warning about the airstrikes, Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz revealed during an interview with Israeli TV Channel 10 on Friday evening in which he emphasized Israel would not allow Syria to become “a dangerous hub of Hezbollah activity.”
Arab media, meanwhile, revealed more details about what happened in the skies above Syria, Jordan and Israel on Thursday night.
Several Arab outlets reported the IAF prevented the delivery of advanced North Korean missiles to Hezbollah when it attacked the convoy near the city of Palmyra (Biblical Tadmor) in central Syria, and that the Syrians tried to down the Israeli jets by firing S-200 surface to air missiles.
As Western Journalism reported March 2, Iran and North Korea are collaborating on missile development and most likely on the production of nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles.
The news site Rai al-Youm reported that reliable Jordanian sources believe there is a direct connection between the recent Israeli operations against Hezbollah and against other targets in Syria and “leaked information claiming that Hezbollah has obtained extremely technologically advanced missiles from North Korea.”
Hezbollah, meanwhile, reacted to the skirmishes between the IAF and the Syrian army by claiming Israel is afraid the Islamic State will be defeated and the Jewish State fears the growing strength of the Russian-Iranian backed pro-Assad axis.
Netanyahu “went to marry Putin during his recent trip to Moscow out of fear that the Islamic State would be defeated,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed referring to a meeting between the Russian president and the Israeli leader that dealt with the Iranian threat and the situation in Syria.
“If the Islamic State loses, what will you do with Iran in Syria?” Nasrallah asked.
Israel is extremely concerned the Islamic Republic will use the changing situation on the ground in Syria to advance its plan carve out a corridor from the Iranian border via northern Iraq and Syria to the Israeli Golan Heights.
As Western Journalism reported over the past few months, Iran is making huge strides in its plans to increase the pressure on Israel.
The Islamic Republic has built underground missile plants in Lebanon for Hezbollah; helped establish a new Shiite brigade that plans to take over the Israeli Golan Heights; is populating southwest Syria with Shiite immigrants from Lebanon and Iraq; is actively working to take over the border area with Israel on the Golan Heights and is quietly restoring its ties with Hamas in Gaza and other Palestinian terror groups.
It came, therefore, as no surprise Saturday when southern Israel came under attack with rockets launched from Gaza.
One missile exploded in the area of the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon and the other fell in Gaza.
It was the second time in three days that southern Israel was attacked with rockets from Gaza and the IDF responded with tank fire and several airstrikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
It indicates the “resistance” as Iran calls the proxies that fight Israel has decided to increase the pressure on the Jewish State.
“The news site Rai al-Youm reported that reliable Jordanian sources believe there is a direct connection between the recent Israeli operations against Hezbollah and against other targets in Syria and “leaked information claiming that Hezbollah has obtained extremely technologically advanced missiles from North Korea.”
“Hezbollah, meanwhile, reacted to the skirmishes between the IAF and the Syrian army by claiming Israel is afraid the Islamic State will be defeated and the Jewish State fears the growing strength of the Russian-Iranian backed pro-Assad axis.”
Both of these are legitimate concerns for Israel. It is no small matter, that North Korea, Iran, Hizbullah, Iraq, China, the Syrian regime and Russia and allies, who altogether comprise some 30% of the world’s population and perhaps 25% of its GDP, are actively allied against the Jewish homeland.
Israel’s move is certainly not unprecedented: In the past, Israel has sent its armed forces to Iraq and Uganda, and its agents to Qatar and Argentina, to carry out Israeli policy. The Jews are all over their world, their interests are all over the world, and their enemies are all over the world. There’s nothing new here.