Official: Joint Russian-Syrian Air Force Patrol Was Message to Israel

A senior diplomatic official in Yerushalayim says that Moscow and Damascus used a recent Golan Heights air patrol to signal displeasure with increased Israeli operations inside Syria. According to the official, Moscow and Damascus wanted to signal their displeasure with Israel’s ramping of activities against Iran and its emissaries inside Syria.

The official told Israel Hayom that the timing and location of the patrol, as well as the very public way in which it was carried out, were aimed at sending a message to “one country and one country alone” that is also situated in the Golan.

Russian and Syrian ground forces took part in joint maneuvers along Syria’s southern border last week.

Russia’s air force has carried out several air patrols in the Golan Heights in the six years since Moscow first sent its forces to Syria.