The Israeli military has rejected claims its fighter jets indirectly caused a Russian military plane to be shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli army said it holds Syria, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah responsible for the incident, in which 15 Russian crew members were killed.
After the shoot-down Moscow placed the blame on Israel, saying Israeli fighter jets were mounting air attacks on Syrian targets at the time and only gave Moscow one minute’s warning, putting the Russian aircraft in the crossfire.
“We view the actions of the Israeli military as hostile,” Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian state television.
The incident was the worst case of friendly fire between the two allies since Russia’s military intervention in September 2015.
The Russian military said the Il-20 electronic intelligence plane was hit 35km offshore late Monday as it returned to its home base nearby.
“The Israeli pilots were using the Russian aircraft as a shield and pushed it into the line of fire of the Syrian defence,” said Konashenkov.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu called his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, on Tuesday to say Israel is “fully to blame” for the deaths, the ministry said.
Weapons depot
The Israeli military expressed “sorrow” at the deaths, but placed the blame squarely on the Syrian anti-aircraft missile batteries that struck the Russian plane.
It confirmed it “targeted” a Syrian military facility the Israeli military said was about to transfer weapons to Hezbollah on behalf of Iran.
But it insisted the Russian plane had been felled by “extensive and inaccurate” Syrian anti-aircraft fire, adding anti-air batteries “did not bother to ensure that no Russian planes were in the air”.
By the time the Russian plane was hit, the Israeli jets were already out of Syria and back in their own airspace, Israel’s army added.
There was no immediate word from Syria’s government.
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‘Everyone will notice’
Putin struck a reconciliatory note on Tuesday saying the shooting down of the plane was the result of a “chain of tragic and chance circumstances”.
Moscow would beef up security for Russian military personnel in Syria as a priority response, Putin told reporters in Moscow.
“These will be the steps that everyone will notice,” he said, without providing further details.
It was a different situation when a Turkish jet shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border three years ago, according to the Russian leader. “The Turkish fighter jet shot down our plane on purpose.”
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said Putin’s “use of measured language shows he does not want to escalate this any further”.
Serious restrictions
A row between Israel and Russia could restrict Israel’s ability to mount air raids inside Syria on what it considers the greatest threat to its security from the Syria conflict: the build-up of Iranian forces or Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters.
Sima Shine, a former senior Mossad official and ex-deputy director-general at Israel’s strategic affairs ministry, told Israel’s Army Radio station the downing of the plane was problematic for many reasons.
“I think it will impose very serious restriction on Israel’s freedom of activity,” she said.
Since intervening in Syria’s civil war in 2015, Russia has generally turned a blind eye to Israeli attacks inside the country. Israel has carried out about 200 air strikes in the last two years, according to Israeli officials.
For several years, Israel and Russia have maintained a special hotline to prevent their air forces from clashing in the skies over Syria. Israeli military officials have previously praised its effectiveness.
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