Israel activates the US-backed missile defense system on its border with Syria

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel on Monday used an anti-missile system at the border Syria, where Russian-backed forces in Damascus were fighting rebels, while Moscow sent representatives for "urgent" negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the head of his army, General Valeri Gerasimov, have planned to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday at the invitation of the Israeli president. Russian, Vladimir Putin

Israel is in a state of alert since the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regained the land captured by the rebels in the south-west of the country and approached the Golan Heights , territory occupied by the Jewish state

Sign of the intensification of tensions, Israel activated twice its missile interceptor systems "David of David" for projectiles from the Syrian conflict. 19659005] This is the first effective use of the system to stop medium range projectiles and is manufactured jointly by the American firm Raytheon Co. The use of the protection system blew the sirens in northern Israel and the Golan, and many An informed Israeli source of the system activation process "Honda's David" said that the missile interceptor had been activated after a first assessment had shown that two Syrian projectiles SS-21 were going to hit the Israeli side. When Israeli sensors detected that the missiles would fall on the Syrian side, it was ordered to cancel the activation of the Golan system. fense, which involves the self – destruction of the projectile in the air.

The sources asked not to be identified, since Israel's military forces had to conduct a formal investigation. When asked if the United States had been made aware of the incident, the source said, "I'm sure this will happen in the future because there are interests. common. "

the incident at the Pentagon, but there was no immediate response.

Netanyahu had talks with Putin in Moscow on July 11 to respond to Israeli concern that Assad, a former enemy, would try to challenge a demilitarization agreement of 1974. the Golan Heights or allow their allies Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah to deploy

(Additional report by Denis Pinchuk in Moscow, written by Dan Williams, under the direction of Gabriela Donoso)