"Additionally to the downed F-16I of the Israeli Air Force, at least one Israeli F-15 warplane wad damaged by a Syrian missile and was forced to make an emergency landing on February 10, the Al Arabiya TV network reported citing own sources.
According to unconfirmed report, in total 3 Israeli warplanes were damaged additionally to the F-16 which was downed by the Syrian forces earlier on February 10.
If these reports are at least partly confirmed this will be one of the biggest Israeli failures in the recent time." SF
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Israeli collective psychology is based on an assumed military and cultural superiority to the Arab states surrounding them. For them to lose an F-16 to the Syrian Air Defenses as well as to suffer damage to several F-15s is an unacceptable challenge to their self image and to the intimidating effect that they seek.
For the Israelis this defiance of their usual air supremacy requires massive retaliation. This is ongoing. pl