An article by an Israeli general reveals the most important differences between Israel and Russia and the reasons and necessity of convergence
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is required to maintain contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin because Russia is in the region to stay there and it interference in Middle East issues is increasing, which requires Israel to increase security coordination with Russia without appearing in the eyes of the Americans as if turned into a force loyal to the Russians”.
That what the Israeli general Eli Ben-Meir, former head of the research division of the Israeli military intelligence agency “Aman” wrote in an article at the Israeli Maariv newspaper.
“The region around Israel is experiencing an unprecedented state of tension and sensitivity, which leaves its impact on Israel’s strategic interests: negative or positive”, Ben-Meir wrote.
He pointed out that “Russian-Israeli relations must be strengthened in the light of successive political and military developments, first of which is the re-establishment of the Syrian state’s control over the areas held by the opposition and the organization of ISIS; through Syria’s alliance with Iran and Hezbollah; second, the stability of the Syrian regime in Damascus; US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of troops from Syria”.
“The fourth development lies in the tension between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, the fifth is the increase of Iranian and Hezbollah influence in parts of the Syrian state, and the sixth is the continuation of Israeli public efforts to rein in the presence of Israel”.
Ben-Meir continues describing in his article that, “Iran and its military bases in Syria, and to prevent the transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah through Syrian territory”.
“On the strategic level, it is regrettable that Russia and the United States cannot totally prevent Iran from canceling its military bases in Syria, but they are able to put the difficulties before it and force it to work with a lighter force and a lower level, The Israeli attacks also hurt Iranian efforts and their allies inside Syria, and are hindering their movements and military efforts”.
“The truth must be said that all this is not enough and does not directly affect Iran’s intention not to continue in Syrian territory, given the state of military and political friction between Israel and Russia, which is increasing with The passage of time against the background of the field operations of the Israeli Air Force in the Syrian airspace”.
The writer cited a number of reasons for increasing Russian-Israeli tension, the most important of which are the “dropping of the Russian plane inside Syria, the transfer of the Russian air defense systems S300 to the Syrian army, and the Israeli leaks about Russian attempts to intervene in the upcoming elections by influencing Israeli public opinion through social networks” he wrote.
He concluded by saying that “other differences between Moscow and Tel Aviv are reflected on the need for stability of the situation in Syria, as well as close relations between Israel and the United States, which may raise fears of the Russians”.
