Israel dispatched a high-powered military delegation to Moscow on Thursday to patch up relations after the deadly downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane on Monday – the Kremlin had pinned blamed on Israel.

Syrian anti-aircraft missiles downed the Russian Il-20M turbo-prop plane, killing all 15 crew members off the coast of the port city of Lattakia.

But Moscow blamed Israeli jets launching an airstrike on Syrian positions for the mishap, accusing them of triggering the S-200 anti-aircraft system by flying in too close in an attempt to destroy a facility allegedly used by Iranians to facilitate the transfer of weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Israel air force commander Maj Gen Amikam Norkin will head the delegation that includes other Israel Defence Forces and military intelligence officials, according to Israeli media.

To make its case, Israel will argue that the mishap was purely the fault of the Syrian government, said a former official.

“From what we understand it’s a huge mistake which was done by the Syrians,” retired Israeli Maj Gen Yaakov Amidror, a former National Security Advisor, told reporters in a conference call Thursday morning.

“They shot down a Russian plane that does not have any kind of [similarity] to any Israeli airplane.”

In addition, Maj Gen Amirdor said, the Israeli F-16 fighter jets were no longer in Syria when the Russian plane was downed.

“Our airplanes were above Israel when they killed the Russian airplane,” he said, attributing the incident to Syrian “stupidity.”

Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Missiles rise into the sky as Israeli missiles hit air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus Syrian Central Military Media, via AP Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Missile fire is seen from Damascus Reuters Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures An Israeli flag is seen placed on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel's army said today it had carried out widespread raids against Iranian targets in Syria overnight after rocket fire towards its forces it blamed on Iran, marking a sharp escalation between the two enemies. Israel carried out the raids after it said around 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad type, were fired from Syria at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights at around midnight. AFP/Getty Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures The Israeli military on Thursday said it attacked "dozens" of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights AP Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Israeli artillery deployed missiles toward Syrian military targets, on the Golan Heights EPA Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Missile fire is seen over Daraa Reuters Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Syrian airspace AFP/SANA Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Israeli soldiers walk among armored vehicles in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights Reuters Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Syrian air defense missiles are seen in the sky over the capital Damascus EPA Israel attack Iran targets in Syria: overnight airstrike in pictures Air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Syrian airspace. Israeli missile strikes fired at Syria hit military bases, as well as an arms depot and military radar. AFP/SANA

Israeli media said the military delegation will also detail Iran’s ongoing activities in Syria to the Russians.

Israel covets its relations with Moscow, and has built on generally amicable relations between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gain unfettered access to Syrian airspace to curtail Iranian ambitions.

“For us it’s a very high-priority mission to prevent the Syrians and the Iranians to move game-changing weapons systems into the hands of Hezbollah and to prevent Iran from building an independent war machine inside Syria,” said Maj Gen Amidror. “It will not be easy if there will be some limitations from the Russians.”

The downing of the plane has raised tensions across the region, where Russia, Turkey, the US, Iran, and Israel are vying for position in a Syria shattered by seven years of war.

Kremlin admits that Syria shot down Russian military reconnaissance plane

Even though plane was shot down by the Syrian regime, Israeli authorities have come under some heat for the incident.

“A military operation, no matter how sophisticated, that ends with a superfluous diplomatic crisis with a world power cannot be considered a success,” wrote Alex Fishman in the mass circulation Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

“Even if the military objectives had been achieved, this is a failure because in the Middle East there are no free lunches,” he continued.