The downing of a Russian spy plane by Syrian anti-aircraft fire put Israel's relationship with Russia, forged in recent years at the initiative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the wwww. Just a few hours after the incident, Russia's Defense Ministry rushed to blame Israel for the deaths of the 15 Russian soldiers killed in the crash. But the Israel Defense Forces' public response, which presented the actual facts and debunked the Russian claim that Israeli fighter jets intentionally took advantage of the fact that a Russian plane was in the air to carry out airstrikes on Syria, along with a phone call between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladmir Putin, led Moscow to quickly change its tone.
The Russian generals made the hasty decision to place the blame on Israel in an effort to shield the Russian Defense Ministry from the Kremlin's wrath. This was, after all, a huge failure on its part. The incident exposed the lack of professionalism of the Syrian military and possibly the lack of coordination between the Russian military and its Syrian counterpart.
To summarize: The Syrian military intercepted a Russian plane, and who do the Russian generals rush to blame? Israel. If the accusation wasn't so serious, one could be forgiven for thinking it was all a bad joke.
The Syrians responsible for the downing of the plane will be made to pay a price for their reckless move. Syrian generals will pay with their military positions for the mistake, and in keeping with tradition, the Russians will make sure this is kept out of the public eye.
Israel must clarify to the Russians that fault also lies with Iran and Hezbollah. They are the real provocateurs taking advantage of the presence of Russian forces in the area to hide their weapons smuggling.
Although emotions are running high in Moscow, Israel-Russia ties do not appear to been harmed. The Kremlin understands that when it comes to Israel, changing the rules of the game will cost them a price they do not want to pay.
The Russians could also conclude from the incident that there is a need to improve critical systems in the Syrian military in an effort to compensate for its lack of professionalism. Such a move could impact Israel's freedom of action in Syria.
