&host=rt.com&uri=/politics/israel-missiles-putin-syria/&via=(none)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
Israel seeks to halt Russian arms sales to Syria
Published: 27 August, 2010, 13:18
Edited: 18 September, 2010, 09:52
Israel Navy boat Super Dvora MK-III
TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Meeting, Military, Russia, Middle East, Politics
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to halt an alleged arms deal with Syria involving deliveries of Russian P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
Israel believes this weaponry is “capable of posing significant danger to its navy vessels in the Mediterranean Sea,” Haaretz daily reports.
According to the paper, Netanyahu held a phone conversation with Putin. He expressed Israel’s concern that Russian missiles may end up in the hands of Shia Muslim group Hezbollah – a powerful military and political organization in Lebanon.
The Israeli leadership claims that militants have used Russian-made weaponry on a number of occasions in the past, including during the Second Lebanese War in 2006. Back then, Netanyahu said, Russian missiles that had previously been delivered to Syria were later transferred to Hezbollah and used against Israeli Defense Forces. He also recalled an incident with anti-shipping missiles C-802 that Syria purchased from China and that were later deployed by Hezbollah against an Israeli destroyer.
According to Haaretz, the Syrian arms deal issue will be high on the agenda during Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s visit to Moscow, during which he will meet his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov. Barak is due to arrive in the Russian capital on September 5. This will be the first meeting between the Israeli and Russian Defense Ministers.
Citing an unnamed Israeli official, the paper writes that Moscow and Tel Aviv have been engaged in a dialogue over the arms sales deals to the region for some time. However, the talks have so far brought no results and Russia continues to seal arms deals with states that Israel considers unfriendly. Therefore, it was decided to bring the negotiations to a higher level.
"We have been working on such a visit for more than a year and it is very important to us," the official is quoted as saying.
The visit could become a historic breakthrough, since Russia’s Defense Ministry is considered “overwhelmingly pro-Arab,” the paper notes.
The P-800 Yakhont missile can be launched from the coast and hit sea-borne targets up to 300 kilometers away. It carries a 200-kilogram warhead and flies only several meters above sea level, making it extremely difficult to intercept.
On May 11 this year, Dmitry Medvedev met with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad in the Arab republic’s capital Damascus. This was the first ever visit by a Russian president to Syria. Almost two decades after the collapse of the USSR, Moscow is seeking to revive once-flourishing relations with the old Soviet ally, and also an important player in the Middle East region.
Israel was rather concerned that, as a result of the visit, Syria would get new contracts for Russian weaponry deliveries. Ehud Barak explained in an interview with Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio station what was behind Israeli worries. He said that the stability in the region is very fragile and “modern arms systems can upset the balance.”
“Handing over some of these up-to-date military systems is what can potentially destabilize the [region],” he told the station. “We do not think that Russia should ship its most modern defense systems or most efficient offensive weaponry. You have very complex and modern kinds of weaponry that are of high demand in the world,” Barak said, adding that Israel puts a question mark on whether Russia should sell its weaponry.
26.08.2010, 18:50
3 comments
ROAR: Parking lots become political issue in MoscowMoscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov is now at loggerheads not only with opposition activists, but also with federal agencies, with some politicians proposing the liquidation of the city government. |
27.08.2010, 15:31
Lukashenko finds alternative to Kremlin in Russia’s regionsThe Belarusian leader insists that criticism from the Kremlin is “a personal conflict” as he tries to establish stronger ties with Russian governors. |
At this pace Russia could lose all its clients: China, because it is a Dictatorship; Iran, because it is a theocracy; Venezuela, because it is anti-America...India, at least for now, is becoming a close friend of the U.S. who was the ally of Pakistan in the past..The truth is that the U.S. has been taking former Russian markets (first of all, new NATO members like Poland) during the last decade. The only which escaped from American control was Venezuela. So the question is difficult: Russia is eager to be a good ally of the U.S., but for commercial reasons has to send weapons to countries which America doesn´t like.
I am glad that Russia is doing what it is doing. Israel will attack Lebanon and its other Arab neighbors , it is only a question of when. Selling weapons to the Syrians will serve as a temporary deterrent. Israel will attack. It is not going to let its defeat in 2006 go by without payback. It is the Zionist attitude. By NOT selling weapons to the Syrians or the Hezbollah for the matter would be suicide for any hope for peace within the region. Terrorism by definition means the calculated use of violence against civilians in order to attain its goals. If we look in this correct perspective, it is clear who the real terrorist is. The tie and the fancy suit should not fool us.
They will not be transferred to Hizbullah more likely limited number to Iran covertly to counter the 5th Fleet, strengthen the second and third maritime defensive lines in the Gulf of Oman. Syria does not need that amount of missiles for their own purposes. The older missiles will be given to Hizbullah. There is not going to a war anyway, not anymore. Iran is going to be a nuclear power, hence NATO and the defense shield, the 60 Billion sale of arms to the Saudi's. Everyone had a grumble and showed their displeasure and now it is over. The problem with sanctions in the end force a country to complete what the sanctions are intended to prevent, otherwise to be under sanctions and not complete the build of a nuclear bomb is not rational. Why put the country through pain and not have anything to show for it. This is why sanctions should not be used in such cases if a military option is not on the table. This is part one of a much larger game, Iran and Russia want the same thing the removal of US bases from the Mid East. Israel as in the 60's, 70's and early 80's is merely a proxy stuck between the US and Russia. Iran and Syria are proxies used by Russia as the used the Arab's during the same period. The great game continues. Iran is going to want a second strike capability as they do not have the capability to deploy a sub-surface counter, it is likely that nuclear missiles under IRG command and control will be deployed in the Be'eka valley in the future, similar to the Cuban missile crisis. If 10 years ago people said that Hizbullah would have Scud missiles in Lebanon no one would have believed you. This may well be the case in relation to this issue as well. It may be like the Scud's it cannot be confirmed or denied if they are deployed inside Lebanon. What I know of the Iranians it would not surprise me if that occurs and I would assume that to be the case and proceed with caution.