as what is the foreign ministry and the repeated response is no comment also trying to get other israeli officials to come in they seems to be a reluctance to do so because this is the worst case so noria for israel and no doubt they want to get their ducks in a line and formulate some kind of response in terms of why and how this in fact happened as you well know there is a close working relationship between the russian president vladimir putin and the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and when ever israel conducts any kind of strikes in syria it always a con firms consults and lets the russians know in advance russia of course being in control of the skies of assyria so in this case where what we hearing that the israelis provided this information something like just one minute before the strikes occurred does point to a disastrous situation on the israeli side and disastrous enough that we know that fifteen russian servicemen were killed while we what we're also hearing from the russian side is that the israelis behaved irresponsibly that this that they created

a dangerous situation in the area and the russian ministry of defense but also saying that russia reserves the right for an adequate response following israel's hostile actions in syria the incident happened at around ten o'clock last night the russian military pay and was on its way back to the how many force base near the syrian city of latakia it was some thirty five kilometers away from the coast when it disappeared from radar not at that point in time there were four israeli jets that were conducting strikes in the area they were targeting a number of facilities held by the syrian army including a power station and initial reports were pointing to some seven people who were injured on the ground at the same time there was a french frigate that was launching rockets from the mediterranean sea now the western media was very quick to put the blame on the shoulders of syria and that was in the media. spawn's the whole incident coming out as i say at this stage no

is radio response we are waiting as to what will be there for a sponsor when we hear it and no doubt will bring you up to date. thank you for now well some details on that russian plane that was down is now it was an i old twenty this patrol aircraft is known by nato as the coots it has a top speed of six hundred seventy five kilometers per hour and a wing span of around thirty seven meters is renowned for its juror ability the aisle twenty has been in service since the soviet union. right so i think we can go live now to investigative journalist in martin jay discuss this further martin thank you for joining us on the program first of all what's your take on the incident how do you see it. well it's extraordinary isn't it i mean i think we should never underestimate the seriousness of what's happened we've we have to go back into two thousand and fifteen before a russian jet was downed by

a western ally that would be turkey in that case and the implications then were huge mr erdogan moved very quickly to repair the situation rather than let it get out of hand i think now isn't it interesting that just a matter of hours after russia and turkey managed to sign a deal which could mean the beginning or certainly the auspices of the end of the syrian war that the west react so quickly with french naval bombardment and this extraordinary israeli air strike in a bizarre part of the country and you know the reports we're getting really do raise some questions about what was really behind this strike i mean defense installations power output and so forth that breaks away from israel's traditional pattern of hitting hezbollah linked targets with their weapon facilities or transport facilities supplying hezbollah in lebanon so i think

a number of questions are being raised now but chief amongst all those questions i think in my view is how much longer can this strange relationship this delicate tenuous balancing act between east and west between russia and america's biggest ally in the region israel cannot carry on if we look back just a few weeks ago netanyahu return from moscow quite happy that he secured some sort of agreement if not of a verbal one lease with with mr putin over iran iranian positions in the south of syria and this is one of the issues which is really making israel very skittish at the moment is that with the war coming to an end and assad emerging as a victor it seems. increasingly significant likely that iran will build more village installations in syria so iran is really one of the key issues here which

is that which is up to the core of the of the of the of the issue but the question still remains how much lower come this relationship last how much longer will mr putin in russia put up with this stranger a range from with israel where boy it's allowed to carry out these sorts of sorties and strike has full or uranium and even assad positions and still remains some sort of an hour in inverted commas with. no official comment from israel on the situation best far but surely israel could argue that it actually did notify russia that the strike was going to take place but the russian memo days those that this morning came just a minute or so before the missiles were launched and said this morning system be regulated somehow do you think it is this just a case of a communication breakdown do you think. as a communications breakdown i think it's quite tactical and quite deliberate on the side of the israelis to give

a warning of some sort but leave it to the absolute last second so that gives the element of surprise to the israeli jets and where they're carrying out whatever they're coming out in the in the region in terms of air strikes me if you give five or ten minute warnings to russia i suppose the fear from the idea from israel will be that our information will be relayed on to the targets and that gives opportunities for those on the ground to not only get out of installations but also to arrange and see across. from a given direction these jets came from mediterranean which is interesting in that in the last few weeks a few months we've seen a number of israeli air strikes. in syria from the mediterranean from from lebanon covering lebanon airspace completely illegally i might add you know. so i think that the issue of the one second warning it was was a pretty poor show and i think you know this is their way of turboprop plane of

that speed in the under age can get out of the area that quickly but the fact that we're getting reports that the israelis use this plane as some kind of target some kind of bait so that these syrian ground forces would fire. at the russian aircraft perhaps by mistake and i think that is a very alarming and that is a real turning point in the syrian war with these huge. geopolitical issues at stake and i think for the first time ever geo political analysts and journalists myself have always been asking what will it take how far can this go before one day netanyahu steps over a line with this very fragile arrangement and just goes a bridge too far with his gun ho attitude in syria and one. bring whether this is such an instant i'm wondering whether the statement from russia's minister of defense today saying that it held israel completely accountable for these lives i'm

wondering if that is a turning point in the syrian war i'm wondering now whether we will see a new relationship a new the previous cordial relationship between israel and moscow will will be put into a whole new dynamic now and we would have to get something more much more concrete i mean we can't have russia simply cannot have. people taking pot shots at craft whether the syrian ground forces by mistake or otherwise may well be that this range will have to be looked at from a military perspective as well as a geo political one you know from assad's position if you look at present a sudden now he's laughing all the way to the bank i mean it looks in such a victorious position now the war now is reaching more or less an end and that is irritating israel to no end a senior official recently said that accepting assad in power now after the end of the war would be slike swallowing

a poisonous frog and i think you know the the situation is really changed very much we go back a few years the relationship is very different different there was a certain amount of acceptance of tolerance of one another that's completely changed now is it now syria is a full on enemy of israel and you know the world has changed since two thousand and six where israel invaded lebanon you know you've got a new dynamic in the region russia is playing a prominent role now where it never did before the iranians are supplying hezbollah in lebanon with much more sophisticated rockets targeted at israeli cities you know and i think the feeling from all of the big players on the ground here is that israel is going to have to accept this new dynamic this new world order in the region you know just put up with these iranian positions right. syria and i think this is really what this whole debate is about is that we've reached a point where israel is starting to blow fuses are starting to lose his cool over

iranian positions in in syria and i think now the focus now the spotlight will be on mr putin whether he decides to keep his word and to keep those iranian positions back twenty thirty kilometers from israel's border or with or whether he wishes to use that as a bargaining chip to say to israelis no you had it good before i kept my word but you let you let me down now we have to drop the rules completely indeed and coming back to something you said earlier about the base size of the russian plane as it appears that from the russian a certain mr defense that the israeli plane had hit behind the russian plane resulting in a friendly fire that brought it down do you think the funk that that russian plane was large and far less mobile than the israeli fighter is that this played a part was it to the sitting duck in a situation. oh i think i think that the question is whether those israeli pilots took that into their own initiative to use the plane as

a sitting duck or whether they were given instructions on the ground back in israel to do so but you know a thing if it really was used as bait it really was used as a sitting duck as you as you put it then we have to ask ourselves well what's really going on now with israel are they really playing. a proper game are they really respecting their word behaving in an accordion manner with the agreements that they struck with russia in the region you can remember that israel is really the only western player in syria now with the americans almost completely out of the game and it feels vulnerable it feels as though it's not taken very seriously by the russians if you go about two years and look at what mr trump did with mr putin the they drew up a syria peace plan an informal one and didn't even. insult israel that resulted in a bit of a tantrum in tel aviv with netanyahu and it's official that time we seem to be repeating the same thing you know israel feels very vulnerable it doesn't seem to

be doesn't feel as though it's being taken seriously by anybody east or west russia or or the or the iranians on the ground and i think these strikes are a symptom of insecurity is a certain desperation in what we've seen with this strike on this on this military surveillance plane but definitely a game changer this is really a tipping point i mean this is really serious and i think the statements that will come in the next few hours from mr norton doesn't you know his office will be a massive game changer in syria indeed investigative journalist martin j. thank you for joining us on the program today we appreciate it. i mean while the israeli military said earlier on choose day it has no reaction saying it does not comment on foreign reports let's just remind you how it all unfolded the russian aisle twenty had been heading to the comedienne airbase for israeli fighter jets were attacking the latakia region and put the russian plane in the line of fire as

a result a missile from a syrian s two hundred air defense system which were targeting the israeli forces shot down the russian plane a french frigate which had initially been accused of involvement in the incident with and could close by in the mediterranean the russian defense minister sergei scheuer has spoken with his israeli counterpart on the phone in which he stated israel bears full responsibility for the downed russian plane he also said that he also stressed what he called it was sponsible the well's irresponsible actions that resulted in the deaths of those fifteen crewmembers on board now here's what else has been said by representatives of russia's military forces earlier today. so now suppose they do on the seventeenth of september at around ten pm when the boys are ready to find jets launched guided bombs on syrian military facilities in the city

of latakia the israeli jets are flying at a low altitude from the direction of the mediterranean sea these ready jets deliberately created a dangerous situation for the warships and located in that area the bombing occurred in the immediate vicinity of the russian aisle twenty which was coming into land these ready pilots used the russian plane is covered against the syrian air defense systems as a result the russian oil twenty was brought down by a syrian air defense missile there's no way the israeli pilots could not have seen the russian plane as it was landing from an altitude of five kilometers at the last they deliberately carried out this provocation israel hadn't worn the russian military in syria over the upcoming operation the warning came less than a minute before the strike through the hotline that didn't leave a chance to going to russian plane to safety to search and rescue operation in the crash area is currently under way we consider this is ready provocation as a hostile action as a result of israel's irresponsible actions fifteen russian servicemen have been

killed we reserve the right to respond to this incident well the israeli missile strikes came just hours after the russian and turkish president think we need to create a buffer zone in theory of cropping in order to protect civilians that the goal is to separate syrian government forces from militants from the country's last major rebel stronghold. reports. weeks on end it dominated headlines last stronghold of jihad that's. where both and the syrian army was poised determined to win them it would have been messy would have drawn the entire world is following a meeting the statement that we're going to make off to the talks may bring hope to the region the presence of russia. and turkey spent almost five hours closer to the way working out a deal that wouldn't plunge into bloody chaos a deal to avert

a military operation a peace deal. we have decided is created demilitarized zone along the battle line by the fifteenth of october it will be between fifteen and twenty kilometers wide we will move radicalize militants out of the senate including. together with russia we will make maximum effort to get rid of all radical groups from this territory turkey and russia will both patrol this territory to ensure compliance. the gist of it is getting radical islamists al-qaeda in syria for one away from the front lines withdrawing heavy weapons artillery tanks to make sure the fingers don't spark any more escalations opening up the roads allowing travel through contested territories for civilians and russian turkish troops would oversee it all patrol this demilitarized zone but there are concerns if you are new

to the notion of abortions to the future the main concern is that the militants pose a threat to aleppo province the city of aleppo and to a military compounds in syria tartarus and him a min. the problem is the hardest who are bent on spoiling any peace effort they have everything to lose if it falls it will mark the end of the syrian war their final defeat assad knows it wouldn't be easy or clean it seems to be for this deal it looks like the military operation has been shelved for now probably draws the best military and diplomatic solution to the the decision is very important indeed the worth was looking for a military confrontation really. but there is no or there is more causality of there is norma literal persian there is not expected clashes between the government

forces than the radical groups in the long probably does the militarized zone will be the way where the radical groups will leave the area not only the people about also. the turkish president wasn't exaggerating when he said the world's eyes were on this meeting stakes are so high here for the gulf states for the west especially they spent untold billions arming and financing the syrian rebels only to lose. we consider any assault to be a reckless escalation of the conflicts if assad russia and iran continue down the path their own the consequences will be dire the world will hold them responsible. how much of that was genuine concern for civilians and how much is bitterness over losing you decide for yourself it's occurring that we have the discussions that are ongoing discussions we are one and president putin. is for as you watch

what's taking place on the ground as you start to see the potential of this and i think i think. the discussions that are having readers down a path of a potential when you get something that was can happen if they're actually engaged in a level of dialogue nevertheless the united states pentagon seem cheered by this latest deal a bloody battle has been averted and geodes to being marginalized but perhaps most importantly is the precedent for compromise and that's happened rarely. and watching r.t. international we're bringing you breaking news this hour now the latest update the russian defense ministry blames israel lost a russian military plane was shot down off the syrian coast it says the israeli military used to be aisle twenty with fifteen people on board as

a cover from the syrian air defense system of the form i was responding to before is ready jets attacking syrian facilities and attacking a province the military said b i l twenty was shot down by syria's defense systems . on the seventeenth of september at around ten pm four israeli fighter jets launched guided bombs on syrian military facilities near the city of latakia the bombing occurred in the immediate vicinity of where the russian aisle twenty was coming in to land the israeli jets deliberately created a dangerous situation the israeli pilots use the russian plane as cover against the syrian air defense systems as a result the russian oil twenty was brought down by a syrian air defense missile there's no way the israeli pilots could not have seen the russian plane. and president putin has extended his deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of those fifteen crewmembers that's according to his

spokesman at dimitri pascal peskov also went on to say that it's too early to draw any conclusions yet but with the first facts at hand israel's actions can be deemed provocative well we can now bring in our guest is way journalist yoni ben menachem and thank you for joining us on the program at such short notice to be dealing with this breaking news why now what's happened in your opinion was an accidental was it a deliberate provocation. of course than it was an accident. to remember those who shot down their russian plane of the syrians and no these were. i think we are. facing a very serious crisis between these well in russia i think that the israeli defense forces are now studying and drawing conclusions and investigating what the exactly happened but. if there will be

a need these will of course will apologize by the way things look now. these early position is of course the spokesman of the israeli government but the position is that the syrians are to be blamed. for professional. this was a mistake by the syrians are not these oil but of course is were they will investigate what happened then draw the necessary conclusions and i think israel will initiate the dialogue. with the russians in order to improve. their military coordination as far as israeli airplanes are concerned they are flying. in the syrian skies and near or above their russian positions in syria but of course. interested in finishing this crisis as soon as possible. according to the russian ministry of defense the israeli plane had purposely hit

behind the russian plane knowing that it would result in friendly fire i felt it seems a little bit too convenient for it to be an accident when you say. i don't think you don't want to argue of course with the russian position but. foresees is one of the best forces in the world and the our pilots don't need to hide behind the russia on the plane i think they're right the syrians are to be blamed for the. professional behavior for a shooting down the russian airplane but there's i told you. these early armies now we're making a full investigation about what happened and i think we should wait a few hours and truly have they will have the conclusions from this investigation and i'm sure that these. will inform the russians about the results of this investigation indeed if they are israeli military all the best in the world then

these pilots would have known for well that if they flew in this direction and hit behind the plane then the syrian at offense would hit that russian plane and russia has already said it is planning an adequate. spong considered response to israel's actions to be adequate. do you think that it's well dragging its feet in responding to this given that it's already pain a matter of hours. i think usually it's not dragging its feet i think that there will be in the israeli initiation to explain to the russians exactly what happened then they don't exclude also in the near future a meeting between prime minister netanyahu and the russian president putin in order

to explain what happened and if there is indeed these will apologize but we have to remember all along that there was a very good coordination between these really air force and the russian air force concerning what is happening in syria and these really interest is to keep coordinating with the russians and then. not to have any crisis with the russians as far as well as concerned the military operations in syria will continue against the iranian their presence and it's better to to settle this crisis as soon as possible and. he said the fear. will come all the conclusion that he made a mistake it will apologize to the russian. president. it could be argued you know if israel does say it was an accident that it didn't intend for it to happen well it should have been there in the first place because it's owning a sovereign state. well it's you know.

a problem of the military iranian presence in syria which is aimed to open in you from thinking this is the israeli position and israeli already did. that if we know that allow any air you're running and presence in syria is there for this is the reason of the israeli attacks in syria we don't have any problem with the russians with the syrian regime the problem is the the fact that bashar assad they love you ronny and stew. the. military presence in syria and this is a red line for israel and israel has made it clear also to the russians that. it's not acceptable for her and how you think that it's very clear that even the even though there is a crisis between israel and russia now because of this unfortunate accident i don't

think that israel will stop. change its policy concerning the iranian in their presence the military presence in syria what happened yesterday evening is being seen by russia as health to all behavior a provocation do you think israel apologizing for this mistake as you say is going to be enough to diffuse the situation. i did not say that was a mistake they said. israel will investigate it and once we have the conclusions if there will be a need to apologize i think that this apologist will be made as soon as possible a russian is a friend overseas rail and the relationship between the two countries are good and there's no reason for israel to be all style towards russia on the contrary and you know things like that happened it's unfortunate it's very sad and of course we'll

do. what is needed is to finish this crisis as soon as possible and you were paid here in realistically do you believe that the situation will be defused the tensions will be resolved or do you think that this continues. and if so how do you think how do you think things going. no no i think definitely that this. this crisis will be dissolved it's only a matter of time and the way the political actual long this where are they discussing what would be the right. to explain to the russians what happened then draw the conclusions and try to improve the coordination between the military coordination between the israeli army and the russian army in syria i'm sure the score of the nation will continue and this is a temporary croesus that.