Yassss. How many Jooo jets did they shoot down?
The New York Times
... which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
said the development could open the door for Jerusalem to upgrade its level of support for Kyiv, as Russia’s presence in Syria has been a major consideration for Israel’s position on the matter.
The transfer of the S-300 anti-aircraft system out of Syria comes amid a larger Russian drawdown in the country as it seeks to bolster its faltering offensive against Ukraine, according to a senior Israeli defense official and two senior Western diplomats cited by The Times.
In August, satellite images captured by Israeli firm ImageSat International appeared to show an S-300 battery being moved from Masyaf in northwest Syria to a port at Tartus and then on to Novorossiysk, a Russian port on the Black Sea near Crimea.
The officials offered different estimates on how many troops have been pulled from Syria. Two put the number at a couple of battalions, or 1,200-1600 soldiers, while the third said the number was much higher. The senior Israeli defense official said the withdrawn troops had been replaced with military coppers.
The three officials said the redeployment would decrease Russian leverage on Israel, and this may lead Jerusalem to reconsider its support for Ukraine.
Kyiv has repeatedly pressed Israel to supply it with air defense systems and military equipment.
Though it has on several occasions harshly criticized Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Jerusalem has so far avoided providing direct military aid to Kyiv — neither offensive arms nor advanced defensive technology — in an attempt to avoid sparking a crisis with Moscow.
The Israeli position is believed to be based on its desire to maintain freedom of operations in Syria, as well as to avoid causing problems for Russia’s large Jewish community.
Moscow has already moved to curb Jewish institutions in the country: Over the summer Russia’s Justice Ministry filed a petition to liquidate the Russian offices of the Jewish Agency for Israel — a semi-governmental organization that encourages and facilitates Jewish immigration — in what analysts view as a reaction to Israel’s criticism of the invasion.