Russia Will Allow Israel to Attack Syria With Impunity

Putin agrees to keep deconfliction mechanism in place

Israel likes to attack Syria, and while officials will mostly claim it’s about Iran, such strikes continue with alarming regularity, the only pause being when Israel is unsure if Russia is still comfortable with them.

This summer Russia suggested they wanted to slow down Israel’s attacks, but today Israel’s Housing Minister reported that they’ve come to an understanding whereby Putin will keep a deconfliction mechanism in place, and allow Israel to strike Syria with no response.

Details are not offered, as Israel tries to spin this as them getting everything they wanted at no cost. Russia has long had conditions on Israel’s attacks, however, and its unlikely that those aren’t still in place.

In particular, Russia has long warned Israel to keep its warplanes away from Russian bases, and that’s likely still part of the understanding. Russia has also been bolstering Syrian air defenses, a process which may be ongoing.

With a public imprimatur, Israel will probably increase strikes once again, though as in the past this is likely to mostly involve targeting Shi’ite militias.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.