Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel would continue its military operations in Syria. The statement came after Russia announced it would supply an advanced anti-aircraft system to Syria. “We will continue to act to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and we will continue the military coordination between the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and the Russian army,” Netanyahu told reporters before boarding a flight to New York. “Over the past three years, Israel has been highly successful in preventing the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and Iranian attempts to transfer lethal weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. But he said there had been occasions when things had not gone smoothly, calling Syria’s downing of the Russian plane “tragic,” Reuters reports.