Netanyahu can't stop Putin, but he can coordinate with the Russians in Syria

There is no need to exaggerate the threat posed to Israel by the Russian deployment of troops in Syria, nor must we overblow the importance of the upcoming meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When it comes to dealing with Putin, even a prime minister that "gets everything he wants" understands he must know his limitations. Netanyahu is not traveling to Moscow to stop the deployment of Russian forces in Syria - he is going in order to coordinate, the JPost reported on Thursday.

Russia is preparing the infrastructure for an airbase in Syria at which 1,000 Russian military personnel will be deployed along with MiG-29 fighter jets and SA-22 air defense batteries. A Russian marine force, outfitted with T-90 tanks will also be deployed in order to defend the base - not to take part in the civil war.

It is important for Israel that Russia avoid deploying systems in the area that are liable to disturb the IAF's freedom of flight, such as the S-400 or the S-300. Nor does Israel want to see Russia deploy advanced jets with stealth capabilities in Syria.

As for the fear that advanced weapons systems could fall into the hands of Hezbollah, Netanyahu has already spoken to Putin about this in the past, but it did not stop him from selling such systems to Syria, with the clear knowledge that some of them were intended for Hezbollah.

Source: MENA