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Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 07:56 PM Central Daylight Time
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 By FIKRET ERTAN
Accompanied by an important 200-member delegation, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is in Israel today.
Putin, who landed in Israel after completing his trip to Egypt, will stay in Israel for 36 hours and return to Russia after concluding his visit on Thursday, May 2.
Putin's visit to Israel is of paramount importance for both Russia and Israel, and also for regional balances. Putin, who will hold important discussions with Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other high-ranking Israeli officials, is the first Russian leader to pay an official visit to Israel. As a matter of fact, since no Soviet leader had visited Israel during the Soviet Union period, Putin thus becomes the first with this visit.
There is no doubt about it, the predictable general agenda of the visit will include dealing with the developments in bilateral relations and enhancing these ties. Among the various special items within the general agenda, there will be the anti-aircraft missile batteries Russia will sell to Syria, the nuclear program Iran is developing with Russia's support, the condition of Jews living in Russia, Russia's latest views on the peace process, energy cooperation between Russia and Israel, and most probably, the anti-Semitic views in Russia.
It is apparent that the most urgent and alarming issue for Israel among the items on the agenda is the SA-18 Igla-S model anti-aircraft missile batteries, that Russia will sell to Syria. Just after it was revealed that the missile sales will be made, both Sharon and other Israeli officials expressed their displeasure and anger over this deal on various occasions and requested help from the US, but these efforts were not enough to dissuade Putin from the missile sales. Having said, "We are making these sales in accordance with international accords," Putin stated that the sales will materialize, but also tried to calm Israel down by giving a kind of guarantee that the batteries to be sold won't pass into other hands as Israel fears. This guarantee is one that the SA-18s to be sold will be mounted on Armored Personnel Carriers, hence the missiles cannot be taken out of these vehicles and fired from the shoulder. Saying to Israel Channel 1 television: "These missiles cannot pass into the hands of any terrorist group without our knowledge. We have the ability to monitor this," Putin put an end to the row in his own way.
The SA-18s, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon considers a threat to Israel, are really efficient missiles in destroying planes, helicopters and even low-flying unmanned planes. As far as I can remember, the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) once used these missiles in the Southeast. Te SA-18s are the advanced models of the Strela anti-aircraft missiles. The maximum range of these missiles, which have high-explosive warheads of 2 kilograms each, is 5.2 kilometers, while the maximum altitude of the missiles is 3.5 kilometers. While talking about these missiles to Channel 1, Putin said to the correspondent: "Now it will be hard for you to fly low over [Syrian President] Bashar Assad's palaces. Henceforth, it will be hard to fly low over Syria," referring to the low flights made by Israeli planes over Assad's palaces in the past years, Putin could not stop himself from issuing a warning to Israel.
In short, Putin is selling 20 SA-18s to Syria despite all requests and pressures from both Israel and the United States, and even if not in general strategic terms, at least in tactical terms, he has changed the Israeli-Syrian military balance in a way.
Other issues Putin will discuss with Israeli leaders are likely to be overshadowed by the SA-18s. Meanwhile, there is also a special side of Putin's visit. Is it a chance event or something Putin had planned beforehand that the visit coincides exactly with the eve of Orthodox Easter, and since Putin is a devout Orthodox, it is expected that he will visit the Church of the Resurrection or the St. Mary's Magdalena Church and become a pilgrim. In fact, the St. Mary's Magdalena Church, located in Israel, is one of the religious places for Russians, and the church property belongs to the Belarussian Church headquartered in New York.
Putin's visit to Israel will be a turning point in relations between the two countries, there is no doubt about it, but from now on, there is no guarantee that relations will develop the way Israel wants. As we have said, Putin is determined to sell missiles to Syria despite strong opposition from Israel and the United States. The reason for this is crystal clear, Russia is strong and Israel needs more cooperation with Russia. |
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