Israeli stealth fighters will be able to avoid being hit by the S-300 missile systems that have just been supplied to Syria by Russia and can possibly destroy them right on the ground, an Israeli official said.
“You know that we have stealth fighters, the best planes in the world. These batteries are not even able to detect them," Tzachi Hanegbi, the country's regional cooperation minister and a non-voting member of its security cabinet, said on Wednesday, referring to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters that Israel has been getting from the US.
"The operational abilities of the air force are such that those (S-300) batteries really do not constrain the air force's abilities to act," Hanegbi told Israel's Army Radio.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Moscow had delivered S-300 missile systems to Syria in order to increase the security of Russian military personnel in the country.
Israel can beat Russian-supplied S-300 air shield in Syria, says minister https://t.co/tr84o3RaOI
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) 4 октября 2018 г.
Israel says its air raids on Syria are needed to foil deployments and arms transfers by Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters, both allies of Damascus.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has expressed Tel Aviv’s discontent over Russia’s delivery of S-300 missile system to Syria, stressing the move will not deter Israel from continuing its military operations in the war-ravaged Arab country.
Earlier, Russia announced that it would provide Syria with the S-300 missile defense system as part of its response to the downing of a Russian Il-20 plane with 15 airmen onboard in Latakia.
Moscow accused the Israeli Air Force of deliberately using the Russian aircraft as a shield during their attack on targets in Syria, which led to the plane's accidental destruction by a Syrian air defense battery.
READ MORE: Israel Won't Stop Ops in Syria Despite S-300 Delivery — Defense Minister
