It’s been exactly a week [May 3] since Israel, according to Western intelligence agencies, destroyed the depots of advanced Hezbollah-bound rockets in Syria. This is a good time therefore to take stock of the situation from the perspectives of the four key players in this affair.

Israel

Having taken out SA-17 batteries in January of this year, according to reports, and the Fateh-110 rockets last week, Israel showed how  serious it was about scuttling the transfer of advanced weapons to Lebanon. The working premise, namely that Syria and Hezbollah would avoid retribution. Whereas the first strike took place relatively far away from Damascus, allowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to point a finger at insurgents, the second strike in the early morning of May 5 took place at the heart of the capital, leaving Syria with no choice but to admit that Israel had once again carried out a strike within its territory.

On the plus side, Israel can take note that it enjoyed high international legitimacy for the strikes — certainly in the United States, but also in Europe and across most Arab countries. The few condemnations were feeble, although one of them should be particularly disconcerting for Jerusalem: Russia, which lashed out at Israel, is now contemplating going through with the deal to supply the S-300 air-defense system to Syria. The relative ease with which the Israeli air force dodged the existing Syrian air defenses could speed up this transaction; its installation could seriously restrict future Israeli aerial activity over Syria and Lebanon.