Amikam Norkin
Amikam NorkinPhoto by Tomer Neuberg/FLASH90

The Israel Air Force's Commander, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, returned from Russia today (Friday) after meeting his Russian counterpart and briefing him on the attack on Latakiya four days ago.

That attack – which struck advanced Iranian weapons systems en route to Hezbollah – has been ascribed to Israel.

"In the past hour, the coordination mechanism between the Russians and the IDF again operated in an efficient manner," an IDF source said.

The IAF delegation headed by Norkin presented the Russians with full information regarding Iranian activity in Syria, as well as the operation in Latakiya.

The IDF stressed that the Syrian antiaircraft fire – which accidentally shot down a Russian plane – was carried out "irresponsibly," and the fact that the IAF jets were already on their way to land in Israel proves this.

Maj. Gen. Norkin showed the Russians that more than 20 Syrian antiaircraft missiles were fired as the Israeli jets were landing back home.

The IDF source said that the deconfliction mechanism operated smoothly and that it was clear, throughout the session in Russia, that Israel was not responsible in any way for the downing of the Russian plane.