Israel is trying to prevent an arms deal between Russia and Syria, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to stop the arms sale involving advanced anti-shipping missiles.

The deal involves the sale of advanced P-800 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles to the Syrian military. Israel considers this weaponry capable of posing significant danger to its navy vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, Haaretz reported.
In a conversation with Putin, Netanyahu told the Russian leader that missiles his country had delivered to Syria were then transferred to Hezbollah and used against Israeli troops during the 2006 Lebanon War.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to travel to Moscow for what will be the first-ever visit by an Israeli Defense Minister to the Russian capital, where he plans to discuss the matter with his host, Anatoly Serdyukov.
A senior Israeli official who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the issue, said Israel and Russia have been engaged in discreet dialogue over arms deals to the region.
But as these talks have not yielded any results, the decision was made to upgrade the level of discussions with a senior political figure.
“We have been working on such a visit for more than a year and it is very important to us,” the official said.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote on Friday, as the Russian Defense Ministry is considered to be overwhelmingly pro-Arab, the opportunity for an Israeli Defense Minister to make an official visit is considered a historic development.
Netanyahu called Putin on Friday, after a long period of time in which the two had not communicated. Netanyahu updated his Putin on the direct talks with the Palestinians that are expected to begin next week, and some of the conversation centered on the arms deal with Syria.
The latest arms deal was first reported in the foreign press in late 2009, and is said to include P-800 missiles which now come in models that can be launched from land.
The highly accurate missiles have a maximum range of 300 kilometers and carry a 200-kilogram warhead. The weapon's unique feature is its ability to cruise several meters above the surface, making it difficult to identify on radar and therefore intercept.
The C-802 missiles currently in the Syrian arsenal have a range of 120 kilometers, carry a smaller warhead and lack the accuracy of the more advanced missiles.
Israel's defense analysts are concerned that these missiles in the hands of Hezbollah would pose a serious threat to Israel Navy ships operating out of the Haifa port, and possibly also out of Ashdod, Haaretz wrote.
Photo: The P-800 Yakhont supersonic cruise missile.