Presentation of foreign ambassadors’ letters of credence. Ambassador of Israel Gary Koren presented his letter of credence to Vladimir Putin on March 16, 2017. Photo: Courtesy of The Kremlin, Moscow / en.kremlin.ru.

JNS.org – Israeli Ambassador to Russia Gary Koren was summoned by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bodanov Tuesday regarding a Monday airstrike which killed 14 people at a military base in Syria.

Though Israel has not officially taken responsibility for the missile strike on the Tiyas or T-4 air base outside Palmyra, both the United States and France have officially denied responsibility. Iranian media reported that seven Iranian military officials were killed in the strike, including a colonel in the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air force.

“Ongoing discussions are constantly held with the Russians and therefore the ambassador will today meet with Deputy Minister Bogdanov,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated in response to the invitation.

Though Israeli officials insist that they do not solicit permission from Russia in order to carry out operations in Russian-backed Syria, Russia expressed disapproval over not being informed in advance of the strike.

Unnamed US officials, however, are alleged to have indicated that Israel informed Washington in advance of its plan to strike Tiyas.

Israel has previously targeted the T-4 base, which is home to an Iranian drone program. A drone dispatched from the base was shot down by Israeli Apache helicopters over Israeli airspace in March. Israeli retaliations for the drone incursion led to the downing of an Israeli F-16 by Russian-made air defenses employed by the Syrian army.