Israel’s long-standing habit of making bellicose threats in the face of neighbors potentially acquiring defensive weapons has reached a new level today, with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon threatening to attack Russian ships in the Mediterranean if they attempt to deliver anti-aircraft weapons to Syria.
Russia has had a long-standing contract with Syria to provide anti-aircraft defensive systems, and the Assad government is keen to get those shipments completed in the wake of repeated Israeli air strikes against them. The Russian S-300 system, the best the Russian government sells, is seen as being able to foil Israeli attacks.
Israel has struggled to justify its opposition to the deliveries, making ridiculous predictions of a dystopian future in which the whole region is a no-fly zone because Syria is attacking random planes for no reason. Syria’s existing arsenal would be able to do this at any rate, and it doesn’t. The obvious reason for acquiring the S-300 is to stop the Israeli attacks, and that’s also the obvious reason for Israeli opposition. It’s just not likely to convince the Russians.
A similar round of Israeli rhetoric was seen over several years related to Iran, with Israeli officials first claiming they had super-secret electronics that would render all S-300’s useless worldwide and render Russian airspace defenseless. They later revised that claim and insisted those defensive weapons were an “existential threat” to Israel. After that didn’t work either, they threatened massive retaliatory arms sales to “Russia’s enemies.”
The question of the latest threats is just how desperately Israel wants to keep its overwhelming military superiority over the entire region, and whether the prospect of one of its would-be victims acquiring defensive equipment is such a threat to their long-term strategy that it warrants risking a war with Russia. Logic would suggest it doesn’t.
Ya'alon did not actually threaten to attack Russian ships. He just said 'we will know what to do'. Which is – swallow the bitter pill 🙂
Seriously, if anthing, they're more likely to try to strike the missile batteries after they've already been unloaded in Syria and taken hold of by the Syrian army – not while the Russians are still holding the missiles.
I think you may be right Ron.
I could not find a direct quote from the Israeli Defense Minister specifically stating that they would directly attack Russian ships.
I agree that the Israeli's would have to swallow the bitter pill. The s300 systems would just make it more difficult for them to attack Syria from the air, and despite the their claims, not threaten Israels own security directly. I could not realistically see the US backing Israel in a strike on Russian vessels, and in fact, this is probably one of those rare times where the US would seriously reign them in.
The russians are not fools like the yankees they will not allow this to happen and america is impotent in the middle east after the invasion of Iraq.
The Russiens have to nuke Israel!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually, Israel does not threaten Russia at all. "I can say that the shipments are not on their way yet," Yaalon told reporters. "I hope they will not leave, and if, God forbid, they reach Syria, we will know what to do," he said, without disclosing how he came by the information.
is it a far stretch to say
the israeli govt and defense ministry has been takenover by rabid warmongers unable to distinguish fact from fiction, unable to exist within their geopolitical restraints. And there is no one left in israel to contain these self-destructive boobs
The guy musrt have been looking at the attack of the USS Liberty. I think he should sit down and relax before he does something really stupid and fail to understand that Israel exists because the USA will dome save it like it did in 1973. If Israel really attaks Russia I wonder juat how the 300 nuke Israel will hold up to the 50,000 nukes of Russia. I wonder if the USA is obligated to come to the Help of Israel if the fools believe the movies that all victories belong to the nation who got kicked out of Lebanon last foolish move.
Despite all the sucking up to Israel, the US has no mutual defense treaty with it like it does Japan & South Korea. If they decided to attack some Russian ships, the US would bark louder than ever in the UN about the Russian response, but won't be leaping to the rescue…not this time.
In fact there is NO Military treaties with Israel full stop end of story, as it is against US LAW, and why Israel has No defined Borders! Israel was offered a formal treaty but refused as it would have to formalize their Border! Israel would have to admit that the Palestinians actually have borders!
You are correct that there is no mutual defense treties. This is how the IDF has weasled out of ever providing sny msn power to any others matters. There is a perdfect record of no help in Korea, Vietnsam, Panama, Iraq and the thousand other places we have sent our kids. It is foolish to think that our elected officials would not help no matter how stupid the action of Israel. Do you think a preson could get elexted in the USA without total sell out of any morals and total prostitution to our special friend in the Middle East. I am not really a believer that our dual citizens actually live in Israel. Using Israel government reports one learna that there is a massive number of Israel citizens who have been out of Israel for more that two years. If this is true why do we send so much money to a place that the citizens do not even like to live.
"It is foolish to think that our elected officials would not help no matter how stupid the action of Israel."
Tom,
I AGREE, but It depends on what you mean by "help." If that help consists of getting into a shooting match with Russia, then I think the elites will weigh the consequences of this and decide against it – more out of self-preservation than anything else. When they are given a choice between losing San Francisco & New York or Tel aviv, then the choice will probably be a simple one. What they will likely do is attempt to isolate Russia, sanction it, close the Russian Embassy, boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics and just about everything else they can short of military action.
Help can come in many forms, but the one thing they won't be doing is starting a nuclear holocaust by attempting to avenge Israel by going to war with Russia.
The zionist DM rectum is sucking air.
Israel has no right to dictate what a country is allowed to have in terms of defensive weapons. They need to get over it and respect border integrity.
I would agree but Israel refuses to state what they believe is the borders. i kind of think they see the world as their at least for one major religion of Israel. What is needed is a quick return to the borders at the end of 1967 except for the Golan heights which Israel grabbed after the time they stated they would cease fire. i would also talk the shabbee farms in south Lebanon because Israel refused to return because they claimed it belonged to Syria. Why that matter is a case of strange logiic. The farms are part of Lebanon or Syria so Israel is there only because they have massive arms provided by our elected officials. I see no problem telling Israel to leave the farm.
Statement subject to interpretation huh? One way to get around Israel commiting new war crimes by trying to wait until the Syrians get hold of the missiles is for Russians to escort the missiles to their final destination and set up points. Use an old Amerikan military tactic of "tripwire soldiers". So if Israel wants to fire on those arms shipments they will have to kill Russian soliders to do it. And should the war mongering Israeli mass murderers do that, then we all know what it means, WW III.
So let's hope that Obama has two brains cells to rub together and tell Bibi and his killers to sit down, shut their big mouths, and let cooler heads prevail. But Obomber's track record does not lend itself to such an outcome……………..
I wish the racist barbarians would do it to learn a BIG and overdue lesson.
Ron F. is probably right; there are a lot of ways Israel can try to take out those missiles without engaging the Russians. One way is- more missiles. The S-300 is capable against aircraft, but isn't an anti-missile defence system.
But at the same time, Israel may not choose the smart way. It's typical of bullies: sooner or later they take on someone bigger than they are.
Israel would get a beat-down of magnanimous proportions should it ever take action against Russia. They really do have a death wish…so be it. Most of the entire world would like to see the war criminal IDF hang by its balls…
Hanging by the balls is cruel. I would be happy to see the IDF members who planned and were part of the murder of the crew of the USS Liberty hanged in the human method. I feel that would be justice. I feel other war criminals like Tony Blair should also be hanged as humanly as possible if convicted. BTW in the case of many of the war criminal who got us into the Iraq war or failed to get justice for the USS Liberty probably do not have enough balls to hang them from.
Spoiled child never learns…………till daddy dies……………………………..
I'm sorry, but if Israel makes that foolish mistake Russia would blow that false Israeli country back to the stone age. If you are a Christian Zionist then you are a fool! Yahweh, God, does not support evil no matter what! No, not even Jewish evil.
The Christian Zionists enabling evil will pick up the tab on the sins and pass the pain on to Jesus? Or perhaps they will have committed the ultimate blasphemy to Jesus by bringing back temple sacrifice?
The silver lining of this is that Russia will certainly develop a contingency plan to eliminate all Israeli submarines.
You can bet they have one already.
israel govt. creates a myth and after a time people start believing in it. it is truly the land of myths. this threat though not uttered in so many words is in line with israel 's attitude. russia if provoked will teach lesson that it will not forget in a hurry even may not forget ever. om shanti
when I used to hang-out in low class beer halls, we called such bravado, (regarding always "kicking everyone's a–"), simply as "bar talk". Absent being able to throw a saucker punch, the IDF seems to be nothing but "bar talk".
The Israelis will not attack any Russian ships. They aren't stupid. There's no Israeli lobby in Moscow and no Israeli propagandists infesting the Russian mainstream media.
We should be much more concerned about a covert Israeli attack on American ships in the Eastern Mediterranean that will be blamed of course on Syria and Hezbollah.
First of all:
Syria already has S-300 and those are most likely guarded by Russian personnel at the Russian naval base in Tartus. Since it would be stupid not to defend that base with such weapons and anti-ship supersonic missiles like Yakhont, we can expect that place to be heavily guarded too.
Another Zionist parrot in their occupation army said yesterday that those missiles,from Tartus, could reach any flying object in Lebanon, the northern occupied Golan as well as half of "israel" down to Dimona where their nukes are.
Will "israel" risk a war with Russia? Well, since they are extremely paranoid, knowing that that racist etnocracy for Jews only and a long dead patient on constant US life support is doomed to go anyway, probably yes. At least for some of the most fanatic hotheads but it only takes one missile targeting Dimona to stop that. This is a chicken race the Zionists and their western slave regimes will loose…
Please do it, zio. Make your final fatal mistake.
Israel has little defense against the S-300 system their aircraft are vulnerable and Israel relies on that to rule the sky and hold the high ground. Missiles like the s-300 can take out F15s and F16s, with loss of Pilot and aircraft! Let us see what the name of the New Israeli glass factory will be called, Russia specifically wrote laws relating to threats by Israel about bombing places where Russian citizens were working (the Iranian nuclear reactor) that law was not place specific, the Russian President no longer has to ask permission to strike back! 20 minutes is all it takes to find out whether the bear who defecates in the woods will grow a Mushroom!
The zionist are farting against thunder the Russians would crap all over them at the slightest move and their benefactor cannot say "Boo to a goose".
Hehe! This is going to get very interesting.
Putin is no pussy. Israel cannot expect to push him around like they did with Lyndon B. Johnson after they had sunk the USS Liberty deliberately.
Deliberately sinking a foreign warship is at least an act of war, if not an outright casus belli.
Netanyahu must be nuts. Kicking the russian bear is something completely different than bombing helpless palestinian civilians with white phosporus.
But perhaps Bibi will sober up, once Tel Aviv lies in smoldering ruins after he tried to sink a russian warship.
Popcorn-time!
Correction, the Liberty was not sunk and thats why we know the truth now. It was saved by the bravest American soldiers.
The best way to teach a dog not to chase cars is to let it catch one…
The Russian ships are not manned or populated by unarmed men, women, and children delivering food and medical supplies, and their government, unlike the Americans who did not answer when Israel attacked the U.S.S. Liberty, the Russian have military men and weapons so this will not be Israel against defenseless Gazans or relief mission, or intimidated American politicians. If they attack Russian ships they will have to fight real warriors. Before doing so they better start digging their own graves.
I wish the hell they would. Israel might actually get a little humility.
Also, it will make the US think twice about supporting this bunch of lunitics
I wish the hell they would. Israel would get the biggest bitch slap ever.
I seriously doubt the US would start WWIII to save these idiots. Israel will be wiped out just like the Babylonians, Assyrians and Romans did.
These khazars would have been better off shutting their mouths and learning the subtle art of diplomacy. They left Russia with no way to back out and still save face. I think more people can see what a screwed up country Israel has become because it is too used to throwing tantrums to get its way.
Be careful Israel; those are not harmless humanitarian aid ships this time!
So Israel reserves the right to: a) arm terrorists in Syria; b) bomb Syria; and c) destroy anyone or anything that interferes with paragraph b, while working with the US to create a "no-fly zone" to facilitate paragraph a. Hmmmmm . . . and Israel cannot understand its widespread hatred as a nation of sociopaths?
We said it long time ago.., that 3rd world war is just around the corner.., That USA and EU are heading full speed ahead for facing either the Russian military or the Iranian army or both…, the reason for saying is because of several reasons.., but most importantly the fact that Russia is going to deliver the S300 air defense system to Syria.., this system is paid for and there is no ilegal international law prohibiting the Russians government not to deliver.
Second: Hezbollah has intered the Syrian war and promised a victory for the Syrian people and Palestinians, so is the others who don't agree with Iran nor Assad but they are against the Saudi Arabia, Qatari, USA and EU hegemony in the region.
Third: EU, in particular England and French going to arm what is called "rebels", who do not have the Syrian people support nor there are many of their friend left or willing to help anymore.., for example Turkey is so very quite lately.., waiting for the order by the NATO.., these "rebels" also rejecting some of their friends like Saudi Arabia having more influence wanting to implement their system on a "feature " Syrian government.., that is to say if.., if these rebels can create or effectively produce a unified government; however, the present political situation shows that such unity doesn't exist nor it will in feature, in the other hand all other brutal and barbarians terrorist group cashing in for the moment.
Fourth: by senators McCain "two hour" secret visit to Syria and Obama asking pentagon for preparation of a "no fly zone" plan for Syria.., and senate voting to arm the Syrian "rebels" , and all other "talks" about the peace perocesses in Geneva is yet another political tricks coming out of the Obama manipulative politics warning that he, as Bush, following the Paul Wolfowitz path wanting to conquer and occupy the entire Middle East and Central Asia.., even if that would cause facing the Russian, later China or any other army in this world.., after all Middle East and central asia is where the world economy = power is located.., that is why for US and EU conquering the entire area, militarizing it is vital as the empire existence and its vulture capitalism economic system.
Fifth: Russian have the upper hand in exporting oil and gas to Europe from Caspian Sea via Kosovo to Germany and Italy.., for the Europeans to arm the Syrian "rebels" is a risky matter, in the other hand for Syrian war to continue losing the tyrants = kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and others is also a risky business not only for EU but also for USA economic and its regional domination as well.., so for USA is to continue its support to all and every kind of who what or whoever, yet looking for a compromise.., if not then for this war is to continue "hopping" (hope is the favorite word of Obama) for something good to come out of it.., hence all the miseries brought upon the Syrian people and all other nations fir last 60 years in the region, hope becomes a empty word, as delusional as the word "hope" is, you can not create, structure, build or even have a idea with only hope.., hope functionality is limited to the emptiness of the word; therefor, a functioning democracy lacking principals which therefore everything is based on hope in Obama governing the hope, blaming every broken promises on his senators while the empire rules.
And now this…, is the indication that USA, EU, Israel in one hand, Iran, Syria, Russia, Lebanon and Iraq are preparing to face each other military.
Russia can & SHOULD take out the Izraeli Nazis once & for All & Liberate the Palestinians.
Well, the Russians couldn't do that with out destroying most of Israel – something none of us should want to see since it would kill millions of innocent people. Let's not forget that there's a sizable number of Israeli citizens who do NOT support the policies of their government and have put themselves on the line by protesting its policies towards the Palestinians, refusing IDF enlistment, etc;
This is frightening. Perhaps if Israel allowed their 300 nukes to be inspected and stopped trying to go to war with Iran the world would be a better place. Israel needs to honor the Palestinians right of return, paid reparations for stolen Palestinian property as they demand German reparations and stop the double standards…the world no longer has any sympathy for Israel. BDS
Zio military leaders are wormy ex-bankers in uniform. Their strong suit is to imitate the 'puffer fish' in dealing with superior forces, and with inferior forces, kill their woman, children and seniors, as in Palestine.
A few weeks ago Russia sank an Israeli 'Dolphin' class diesel sub of the coast of Syria using a VA-111 Shkval supercavitation torpedo (200 mph+!). Not a word of acknowledgement from Israel, fearing that it would become widely apparent the king has no clothes.
I sincerely believe that the Americans are wishing Israel to make this wrong move. Everybody will understand why the Americans did not come to their aid.
During the soviet time, the russians had better intelligence than the west, and i believe this is still the case at least militarily. Add to this the huge influx of russians to the shit*y little state in the 90's, they must monitor all they have especially being a small country but with a big mouth. My scenario;
Israel flies over a russian ship provocatively in the Mediterranean, wham, no Israeli subs or nukes all in ashes. Add a couple of air bases and probably the defense ministry and the little shits start screaming bloody murder. But when nobody answers back their reality dawns on them, a shitty little state nobody likes.
Maybe the Russians should set up a system like we did with our B-52's back in the day- have a few of them patrolling just outside Israeli airspace, fully armed and ready to strike on order. Keep the bombers on station 24/7 and see if Israel rethinks its strategy of baiting the bear.
They would be blown out of the skies if they entered Israeli air space
I believe the Russians already do with their Tu-95 "Bear-H" bombers like they use to patrol near US and NATO airspace. Most are reconaissance aircraft but some are armed with cruise missiles. They also have the Tu-160 "Blackjack" which is similar to the US B-1 bomber.
I agree with the strategy, and obviously so have the Russians, for some time. What has changed is the weapons delivery technology. For over a decade Russia has clandestinely maintained two (in each nation) super-Sunburn 'Onyx' SS-26 missile batteries in both Iran and Syria under their direct control. Each battery contains four 400Kt nuclear warhead missiles that can reach a velocity of Mach 4 at an undetectable altitude of a mere 60 feet!!! This results in the final communication from Israeli Central Military Command within minutes of launch… Radar operations officer: "OY VEY! General, I'm showing a…. (WHOOOOOM!,,, brilliant light… followed by tremendous heat… 20X that of the Japanese bombs.). Yep, right under and up the skirt of their 'Iron Dome' defense like a nuclear tampon.
Israel, being completely evil, but not stupid, is fully aware of this capability and thus all is mere bravado.
Here again we see Israel tipping us off to the REAL reason behind the Syrian conflict: the need for Israel to eliminate Syria's and Hizballah's missile arsenals, the real threat to Israel in an Iran war.
Israel won't attack Russian ships, of course. Russia would escort them with Russian Navy ships if that happened which would result in Israeli jets being shot down. What Israel probably will do is track those shipments and attack them on the ground in Syria.
And they would just LOVE THEM TO TRY. In for some surprises.
Did Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, forgot to take his medication again?
I guess Israel has got the task to spark worldwar III