“Syria has received the first shipment of Russian antiaircraft S-300 rockets,” Mr. Assad said in the interview, to be broadcast on Al Manar, the television channel of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which in recent weeks has dramatically increased its military intervention in Syria on the side of Mr. Assad’s government. “The rest of the shipment will arrive later today.”
To which the response from Israel was:
Israel has lobbied Russia not to deliver the S-300 systems to Syria. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned on Tuesday that Israel would view such a move as a threat to it and that it could prompt an Israeli reaction.
“The deliveries have not taken place, I can attest to this, and I hope they do not,” Mr. Yaalon said. “If, by some fortune, they arrive in Syria, we will know what to do,” he added.
Israel is like the schoolyard bully who is alarmed that the subjects of it's random acts of violence are arming themselves.
Never mind the fact that Syria is arming itself due to its internal conflict rather than looking to cause an external conflict. Of course Israel is worried that Hezbollah will get hold of some of these anti-aircraft missiles because then it couldn't randomly decide to fly over Lebanon (or elsewhere) without fear of retaliation.
Anyway, with this announcement does anyone else see shades of the Cold War?
