"The system we are going to supply to Syria is short range and poses no threat whatsoever to Israeli territory," Putin told a news conference after talks with Israeli President Moshe Katsav.

Moscow's planned sale of the military equipment to Damascus is one of the principle bones of contention between Russia and Israel, which could threaten to overshadow the first ever visit by a Kremlin leader to the Jewish state.

"If they were ever to be used, you would have to attack Syria," the Russian leader quipped.

But an unamused Katsav acknowledged there were "disagreements" between Israel and Russia on the planned sale of the anti-aircraft missiles, which he said "risked reducing Israel's abilities to fight terrorism".

"Despite steps taken by the Russian president to reduce the danger, we feel there is a danger of deadly weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah," Katsav added, referring to the Syrian-backed Lebanese-based Shiite movement.

According to the Israeli government the short-range Strelets missiles would arm an unfriendly neighbour and could fall into the hands of militants, which at least one official said could pose "a grave danger to civil aviation."

Moscow says it has the right to sell weapons and that the Strelets are of a purely defensive nature.

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