I am no military analyst by any stretch of the imagination, but when matters are explained to me in great detail, even I can understand.

The Russian Defense Ministry just put together such an explanation for non-professionals in the form of a one-minute animation clip showing how it happened that the Russian plane was downed by Syrian air defenses over the Mediterranean and why Israelis are to blame.

The timeline is this: the Israelis strike three targets at 21:40, while the Russian plane flies over the Syrian landmass, traversing it due south.  The Syrians launch an anti-aircraft missile at 21:51, 11 minutes after the Israeli strike.  Meanwhile, the Russian plane does a U-turn and heads toward the sea, over which it is hit at 22:03.  Israeli aircraft leave the area at 22:40.

This timeline, instead of clarifying matters, left me totally nonplussed.  Why such behavior by the Israeli pilots?  What were they to gain by staying in the area of danger for a full hour?  Why did they incur an obvious risk to themselves and their aircraft of being hit by Syrian anti-aircraft fire?  Their targets struck, their mission accomplished, what was the point of not going home immediately after the strike?

And this too: Wouldn't the Syrian missile hit Russian aircraft anyway, even if Israelis had left and were not hovering around?

I am honestly puzzled.  I hope there are real military experts reading the American Thinker.  Perhaps they can explain the alleged behavior on the part of Israelis that to a dilettante like myself looks bizarre.