Israeli minister: Russia takes us seriously, it has no interest in opposing us
"Russia and Israel are not enemies."
By MAARIV ONLINEYoav Galant(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
In an interview with Radio 103, Housing Minister Yoav Galant addressed Russia's reported charge that Israel blindsided the country in attacking a Syrian Air Force base Saturday overnight."Russia and Israel are not enemies... and today we have the best cooperation with Russia since the establishment of the state, so the Russians have no interest in opposing us," Galant said. "If we do not prepare ourselves for the next war, we will pay heavy prices, so we must do so in a proper and broad manner."Russia and the United States both take Israel seriously and Israel has close ties with the two countries, he added."We speak with all the parties from time to time, and I have heard the Russian foreign minister and the ambassador's remarks about the attack and I want to remind everyone that Russia views Syria as its backyard. It still backs [the regime of Bashar Assad], and therefore they don't need to know everything. Sometimes silence is the real wisdom."During the night between Saturday and Sunday, the Syrian Air Force base, controlled by the Assad army, was attacked, and according to sources in the Syrian opposition, 14 people were killed, including Iranians. The T-4 base is the base of the Syrian air force, which also includes Iranian soldiers, from which the Iranian drone departed for Israel in early February before Israel carried out a strike on the base.