Liberman: Israel will respond with full force to IS attacks

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says that Israel will respond to provocations by Islamic State militants with “full force,” without coordinating with other countries engaged in military operations in Syria.

Speaking at his Yisrael Beytenu’s weekly faction meeting at the Knesset a day after IDF troops came under fire from an Islamic State-affiliated terrorist group along the northern border, Liberman says any attack will be met with a “powerful response.”

“For the first time an Islamic State force attacked our soldiers and we replied appropriately — with a powerful response,” he says. “Israel is not looking for a fight but when we are faced with provocation — in Gaza, on the Syrian or Lebanese borders — we will respond forcefully, as was done here.”

Asked if Israel had coordinated with other countries fighting in Syria or planned to in the future, Liberman says that Israel had no need to coordinate with anyone else when attacked on its sovereign soil, and will respond “immediately.”

“When we identify the source of fire, we respond to it. If not, then the sovereign is Assad’s army and we will respond there,” he adds.

— Raoul Wootliff