Russian military forces deployed to Syria reportedly fired upon Israeli aircraft on at least two occasions over the past six months leading to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to enhance coordination mechanisms between his country and the Kremlin to avoid any potentially dangerous clashes. This is according to a story in the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Friday. The story does not, however, make clear who its sources were nor which dates the alleged incidents took place. Israeli jets have flown numerous airstrikes against Russian-made missiles in the Syrian military arsenal it does not want the Hezbollah militia to get its hands on, some of these strikes appear to have taken place after the Russian deployment which began last September 30. Netanyahu arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coordination between the two powers in the skies above Syria was once again discussed. "I came here with one main goal - to strengthen the security coordination between us to avoid mishaps, misunderstandings and unnecessary confrontations," Netanyahu told Putin ahead of their three-hour meeting. "I think that this is vital because we must maintain freedom of action for the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and the air force in places that are important to us vis-a-vis our security, and I think that this has been achieved," Netanyahu added. Turkey infamously shot down a Russian warplane over its border with Syria on November 24 which saw hitherto cordial relations between Ankara and Moscow severely strained. Israel maintains a communication mechanism with Moscow shortly after Russia's intervention. A Russian warplane briefly flew over Israeli-controlled airspace in the Golan Heights region last November 29 without incident.
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