GREATEST WAR EVER:

The Russians are playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Israel. In a statement he released Sept. 18 to restore calm, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Israel did not down the aircraft. Nevertheless, the Russians are continuing to raise and lower the flames in this serious crisis with Jerusalem. Israel's greatest concern is that the Iranians will make a hasty effort over the coming days to expedite the transfer of precision and long-range missiles to Hezbollah, taking advantage of the temporary freeze on operations in Israel and the fact that for the next two or three weeks, the IDF would not dare to continue its marathon attacks after having intensified them over the last year. [...]

Israel believes that Iran is trying to concentrate its activities on increasing Hezbollah's supply of "tie-breaking" weapons, particularly in those areas with an extensive Russian presence, in the hope that it will create friction between Israel and Russia. According to this assessment, the downing of a Russian jet as a result of the IAF attack is a "tie-breaking" incident planned in Tehran in the hope that the Russians would instruct Israel to declare northern Syria -- or at least its airspace -- off limits to Israeli jets. While such a declaration has not been made, the Russians announced Sept. 19 that the area is partly closed for a week so that they can conduct a "military exercise." It is clear to all the parties involved that this is an exercise in leadership.

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