Israel has strongly criticized Russia's plans to supply arms to Syria, saying the move will not help efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, Kol Israel public radio station reported.
"The sale of these weapons does not contribute to building an atmosphere of peace," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.
Russia earlier said that it was supplying Syria with MiG-29 fighter jets, Pantsir short-range air defense systems and armored vehicles.
Israeli FM said the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not interested in peace, and called "naive" anyone who believed Syria would be ready "to cut ties with Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia" in exchange for a return of the Golan Heights, occupied during the 1967 Six Day War by Israel.
Military-technical cooperation between Syria and Russia has always been an issue of criticism from Israeli authorities, who express a strong concerned over increase of Syrian defensive potential, but also see a threat of transfer of weapons to Lebanese or Palestinian radicals.
Israeli-Palestinian direct peace talks came to a halt in December 2008, when Israel launched an attack on the Gaza Strip in a bid to put an end to the firing of homemade rockets at southern Israel by Palestinian militants based in the enclave. The conflict left 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
TEL-AVIV, May 16 (RIA Novosti)
