Liberman: Israel won’t allow Russia to restrict its activity in region

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says that Israel will not allow Russia to impose restrictions on its activities in the region.

In an interview with Walla news site, the defense minister still refuses to confirm that Israel was responsible for a strike on Iranian forces at a Syrian airbase last week, despite an unnamed senior military source telling The New York Times that the Jewish state was behind it.

“We have to do what’s imposed on us,” Liberman says. “We will not allow Iranian consolidation in Syria.”

At the same time, the defense minister asserts that Israel has succeeded in avoiding “friction” with Moscow and that the two countries are in constant contact.

He says that Iran also acts against Israel through proxies: Hamas and Hezbollah — terror groups that would not be able to function without funding from Tehran.

As with Syria, Liberman warns that Israel will not allow Gaza to become an “Iraninan front” either.

He says that in order for the poverty-stricken coastal enclave to be rehabilitated, its rulers would first need to demilitarize and then reach a prisoner agreement with Israel.