Israel hits a Syrian fighter jet

On Tuesday in the mording the Israeli military announced that it had shot down a Syrian fighter jet that had “infiltrated into Israeli airspace,” the first such incident in at least a quarter of a century. New-York Times writes about this.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the Patriot air-defense system had intercepted a Russian-made Sukhoi warplane in mid-flight over the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights around 9:15 a.m. Brig. Gen. Ram Shmueli, a former head of intelligence in the Israeli Air Force now serving in the reserves, said that the pilots of the jet, which he identified as an Su-24, had ejected safely in Syrian territory and that the remains of the plane fell into the sea.

“We cannot tolerate any penetration of the Israeli airspace, so we had to shut him down even though we understand that his intention was not to attack us,” General Shmueli told reporters in a conference call, saying the aircraft had penetrated half a mile into Israeli territory. “We are not involved in the war in Syria, and we don’t have any intention to be involved. We have to keep our borders safe on one side but we have to make sure we are not part of this war.”

Israel has responded on several occasions throughout the last three years to what it has described as errant fire from the Syrian civil war that has landed in the Golan Heights. In August, Israel shot down a drone from Syria.

Amos Harel, the military correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz, said Israel had not intercepted a piloted Syrian aircraft since 1989, and General Shmueli put the date at 1985.

General Shmueli said Tuesday that the interception of the Syrian jet had nothing to do with the American-led airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants inside Syria that morning. He also said he did not expect the interception to trigger a Syrian response against Israel.

“I believe it’s an isolated event, I don’t see any escalation,” he said. “I believe the Syrians know we don’t have any intention to be part of this war. They know our policy ahead of time because we say it clearly, loudly and publicly.”

Photo: Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse