I'll share my view about this pressing topic on the minds of people following the Syrian crisis, it's not comprehensive but should unclear some doubts, it's sometimes annoying for followers, imagine you're in the shoes of the Syrian leadership and the Syrian Army and have to maintain the nerves of steel throughout a full decade, that's 10 years, and those are 3650 days of nonstop attacks of terror and enemies on you plus the mainstream media onslaught and finally top them with the keyboard warriors.
A member of the Quora wiki Q & A put a question on the title topic and I left an answer there which I'll copy both here to preserve my replies from Quora's heavy censorship, especially with everything related to Israel, and to share the info with readers of this platform.
Q: Why do the Syrians seem hesitant to fire S-300 missiles at Israeli jets, even when they intrude into Syrian airspace?
Arabi Souri - A:
This is one of the most puzzling for many yet simple questions on the minds of all those who monitor the situation in Syria and it has so many elements in it to consider.
In the 1967 - 1973 years, the Israelis had ultimate control of the skies after they destroyed Egypt’s air force completely and managed to swallow a land double the size of what they occupied between 1917 and 1948. The reason for their swift attacks and victory is another topic.
During those years both Syria and Egypt didn’t sit idle and wait for the next strike, both built their air defense systems against the US-supplied (and other NATO members) Israeli air force which was the only Israeli power. Despite their air space breached by the Israelis continuously and despite many air raids, the Syrians and Egyptians kept quiet about their air defenses and only showed it when they waged the October 1973 war, that was a total surprise for Israel and its NATO sponsors and it was a lesson for history.
Russia was supposed to deliver the S300 to Syria in 2010, Syria paid for it in full, and instead, just like what they did with Iran, Russia halted the delivery upon the request of the Israeli PM Netanyahu to President Putin. Had Syria had those back in 2010, everything could have changed and we might have not seen the NATO plot dubbed the Arab Spring escalate in Syria this much. The S300 back then was over 2 decades old.
Russia finally delivered the S300 to Syria after the 55 years old Syrian S200 shot a Russian IL20 in its pursuit of the Israeli fighter jets that used it as a shield and bombed, the S200 is not advanced and it chases the largest bird in the sky.
Read: Russian Plane Shot Down After Israel Use it as a Human Shield During Attack on Syria.
The decision of the Syrian command was to shoot down any Israeli jet and those 55 years old systems managed first to shoot down an advanced Israeli F16 and severely damaged a much more advanced F35 fighter jet:
Read: After 17 Months of Cover-Up they Confessed Syria Shot Down the Israeli F16.
The hesitation of the Russian delivery of S300 in 2010 upon the Israeli request struck them back badly. Yet, even after the delivery of the S300 to Syria in late 2018, the systems are not completely operational, some say they are but not battle-field operational, however, may be waiting for another 1973 kind of surprise?
Despite the upgrades on the systems delivered to Syria, the S300 is already more than 4 decades old now. Syria has other air defense systems for protecting strategic facilities, to cover an entire country is not that easy especially that the Israelis are first not penetrating Syrian air space anymore, and when they do so like the last attack yesterday early morning (13 Jan at 1 am) they’re doing so with the help of the US forces who use a special corridor approved with the Russians to avoid any conflicts in the air:
Check the map: Israel Bombs Deir Ezzor City and Al Bukamal Area in the East of Syria.
Here, you can see how they bombed a city from opposite the Lebanese coast:
Israel Bombs Masyaf in Central Syria on Christmas Eve, as Expected.
Or from the occupied Syrian Golan:
Israel Bombs Damascus while World Riveted to Capitol Hill Mayhem.
So far all the Israeli attacks are against non-strategical targets, they’re hitting mostly munitions depots, and it’s true sometimes they’re killing Syrian army personnel but that won’t last for long, they’re winning the ‘battles between wars’ but losing the overall war. They want to start a regional war before the US withdraws completely from the region, but that’s not an option for the USA, the decision-makers there, not the clown presidents, see the threats elsewhere and they cannot maintain an overstretched expensive military presence while not gaining much on the ground, the pandemic (scamdemic , for some) exacerbated their losses and their inability to stay longer.
If Israel does cross the red line in Syria the Syrian army has a ‘constant order’ to retaliate without asking for permission, which means their planes won’t be shot down in the skies, they won’t have airports to land in or hungers to hide in.
Just the last take: Whenever you say Israel it actually means the USA, the rest of NATO, and the Gulfies. Israel by itself is not sustainable not even for a couple of months, by all means.
Final thought: Frightened, Confused, and Tense, Israeli IDF Bombs itself and Accuses Hezb Allah!
End of my reply on Quora.
Your objective comments are always welcome.
