Israeli Minister Warns of S-300 Misssile Use On Israel

Israeli Strategic Affairs and Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Tuesday (May 28) the S-300 missiles that Russia plans to deliver to Syria can reach deep into the Jewish state and threaten flights over its main commercial airport near Tel Aviv.

Steinitz said he hoped Russia would cancel the deal.

"This is still unfortunately the plan, and we are very concerned. And we don't understand. We think this behaviour, of supplying such arms to Damascus, to Assad, in this crucial time of terrible civil war, we think that this is totally wrong," Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem.

 "The S-300 are not just defensive but also in our case offensive weapons. Why ? Because with a range up to 200 or 300 kilometres, you can attack airplanes over the Ben Gurion airport, over the Tel Aviv region, so the range of those anti-aircraft missiles is making them not just defensive weapons but also offensive weapons that can attack aircrafts including civilian aircrafts, military aircrafts deep into the other side's territory," Steinitz said.

 "This is a kind of encouragement, a kind of support to this brutal regime that is totally wrong, also from a moral point of view. One cannot understand, one cannot justify such a behaviour," he added.