Liberman’s surprise "no" to Russian offer on Hezbollah

Russian President Vladimir Putin intensified his already frantic diplomatic pace on Syria, his own version of the art of the deal, following the Helsinki summit, as we wrote here last week.

“A high-level Russian delegation landed in Israel July 23,” Ben Caspit reports. “The delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and included Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who was paying his first visit to Israel. It was a rushed — almost an emergency — visit after Putin’s last meeting with Netanyahu in Moscow on July 11. … It was later learned that the Russians offered Israel a deal, which they promised to enforce. They would guarantee that Iranian forces, Hezbollah and the Shiite militias would be kept 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Syrian border with Israel, while Israel would commit to accepting Assad’s return to power in Syria and stop its attacks on Syrian territory. Surprisingly, Israel said no. It was a polite but firm refusal. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot told the Russians that Israel could not accept an Iranian or Hezbollah presence anywhere in Syria, and that it reserves the right to continue dealing with that presence themselves. The Russians listened carefully and returned home empty-handed."

“The day after the Russians were gone, Israeli Patriot missiles shot down a Syrian air force Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet that penetrated 2 kilometers into Israeli territory,” writes Caspit. “It happened a day after two missiles fired by Assad’s forces set off Israel’s multilayered missile defense system, the ‘Magic Wand’ (or ‘David’s Sling’), for the first time. This was the first operational test of the missile interception system, and it failed. Regardless, the Russians protested the shooting down of the Sukhoi. An investigation by Israel later found that the Syrian pilot and navigator made a navigation error and did not intend to attack Israel. Nevertheless, the most senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials made it clear to their Russian counterparts that Israel had no choice, and that any aircraft that crosses its border will be shot down.”