As we should recall in 1973 Syria was a very close Soviet client state, and further more it was Moscow which assisted the Syrians & Egyptians in their sneak attack against Israel's on the highest Jewish holy day of the year, Yom Kippur.
Fortunately the Israelis beat back the Arab invaders even with Russians flying the Syrian & Egyptian MIG fighter jets, which Israeli pilots shot down by the dozens. Many Israelis lost their lives during the Yom Kippur war due to Moscow's incitement & fully supporting the Arab side.
In the tradition of Stalin, Soviet Russia intended to assist the Arabs in their (failed) attempt in exterminating the Jewish population of the state of Israel. Nothing has changed in 2006, and Iran, a client terrorist state of Moscow has a demented Muslim leader who has sworn publicly to "wipe out Israel" with Putin's arms assistance..
The question has to be asked, are the visible Putin supporters on FR also antiSemitic? After all the Putin promoters are obviously cognizant Putin's Kremlin is arming Israel's most vicious enemies, in terms of Russian weaponry sold to the likes of Iran & Syria, which Anmerica's sworn enemies and a monumental threat to the entire civilized world.
The 1973 Yom Kippur War, a study in Soviet Era Politics
President Nixon was able to reroute American arms shipments via the Atlantic's Portuguese Azorean Islands, and onward to Israel, which turned the tide in favour of Israel over the invading Arab armoured divisions. People tend to forget how close we came to a real East-West conflict.
Putin continues arming the Syrians, as well as the fanatical jihad exporting Iranians. Hugo Chavez, a revolutionary Marxist also as a very close working relationship with KGB Putin dealing in all sorts of Russian weapons, not to mention Moscow's old ally, Cuba's Castro.
Putin was also playing arms games with Saddam before we overthrew the Iraqi tyrant, which Putin was so against. We now know why.
Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms
Russians Moved Iraq's Missing Explosives to Syria
Syria: Israel anger at Russian arms deal
Israel Fears Russian Missiles to Syria Could Fall Into Terrorist’s ...
Iskander is an updated version of the Soviet-era Scud missile