Israel is concerned by Russia's decision to sell anti-ship Yakhont missiles to Syria but the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would be able to "deal" with the challenge, the chief of Israeli General Staff said on Tuesday.
Russia earlier announced it would honor a 2007 contract on the delivery of several Bastion anti-ship missile systems armed with SS-N-26 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles to Syria, despite efforts by Israel and the United States to stop the deal.
"We have been following the deal for a long time. There were attempts by the highest political levels to thwart the deal but they did not succeed," The Jerusalem Post quoted Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi as saying.
"This is a negative development and we will know how to deal with it," the general added.
Military-technical cooperation between Syria and Russia has always been an issue of criticism from Israeli authorities, who express a strong concern over the increase of Syrian defensive potential, but also see a threat of transferring weapons to Lebanese or Palestinian radicals.
The Yakhont missile has a range of 300 kilometers, the capacity to carry a 200-kilogram warhead and the unique ability of being able to cruise several meters above the water surface, making it difficult to detect and intercept.
TEL AVIV, September 22 (RIA Novosti)
