Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed on Tuesday that Israel will continue on carrying out strikes against Iran in Syria, despite the accidental downing of a Russian military jet by Syrian regime air defenses that Moscow blamed on Israel. Netanyahus office said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone that "Israel is determined to stop Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, and the attempts by Iran to transfer to ‘Hezbollah’ lethal weaponry (to be used) against Israel." Netanyahu also "expressed sorrow" over the deaths of the 15 Russian crew members onboard the downed aircraft and said Israel would assist Moscow in the investigation. He said Syria was responsible for the downing of the plane. The late Monday incident saw the Russian aircraft shot down by regime air defenses in response to an Israeli raid. The incident threatened to damage relations between Russia and Israel, which had three years ago established a hotline to avoid accidental clashes in war-torn Syria. But earlier on Tuesday, Putin had said it was the result of "tragic accidental circumstances". Netanyahus office said he offered "to give Russia all the necessary details to investigate the incident, and suggested sending the (Israeli) air force commander to Moscow". Any dispute between Israel and Russia could crimp Israel’s ability to carry out air strikes inside Syria on build-ups of Iranian forces or “Hezbollah” groupings. Since intervening in Syria in 2015, Russia has usually turned a blind eye to Israeli attacks. Israel has launched about 200 such raids in the last two years, Israeli officials say.