Israeli Prime Minister agreed in a phone
conversation with Russian President that interaction between the two countries’
militaries would be continued.
MOSCOW,
February 10. /TASS/. In a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the air strikes
conducted by Israel’s Air Force against targets in Syria, the Kremlin said on
Saturday.
"The
Russian side called for any steps, which might trigger a new spiral of
dangerous for all confrontation in the region, to be avoided," the press
service said.
In the
meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s press office said that
Netanyahu agreed in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin
that interaction between the two countries’ militaries would be continued.
"I
have recently spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin," Netanyahu
said cited by his press office. "We agreed that security coordination
between our countries will continue."
Putin and
Netanyahu held a phone conversation amid a sharp deterioration of the situation
on the Israeli-Syrian border after an Iranian drone had been shot down in the
Israeli airspace and an F-16 fighter jet of the Israeli Air Force had crashed.
"I
emphasized in the talk with him [Putin] that it is our [Israeli] right and duty
to defend themselves from attacks from Syria," Netanyahu said.
On
Saturday, the Israeli military said their helicopter downed above the Golan
Heights an Iranian UAV, which had entered the Israeli airspace from Syria. In
response, Israel conducted air strikes against Iranian facilities in Syria and
destroyed the Iranian UAV control center.
During the
operation, the Syrian air defense launched a few missiles to hit Israel’s F-16.
The pilots ejected - one of them was badly injured, while the other received
minor wounds. After that, Israel delivered a heavy strike against Syrian air
defense and Iranian facilities in Syria, hitting twelve targets in the
neighboring country, Israel’s Defense Forces said.
In the
autumn of 2015, Israel and Russia agreed to exchange data in order to safeguard
their militaries against any accidental engagements during operations in Syria.
A special coordination center was set up at Israel’s General Staff for the purpose.
Source: ITAR-TASS 11-02-2018
