Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman tells his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, that Israel will take military action against Iran and its proxies if they attempt to entrench themselves along the Syrian border with Israel.
“We will not get involved in internal matters in Syria, but, on the other hand, we will not allow Iran and Hezbollah to turn Syrian territory into a forward operating base against Israel,” Liberman tells Shoigu. “We also will not allow the transfer of advanced weaponry by Iran, through Syria to Lebanon.”
The comments come hours after Israel bombed a Russian-made anti-aircraft battery near Damascus, in a move liable to anger Moscow, one of Bashar Assad’s biggest backers. Russia has not responded to the attack and was reportedly kept informed by Israel during the sortie.
An SA-5 interceptor missile on display at the Ukrainian Air Force Museum. (George Chernilevsky/Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Liberman tells the Russian defense minister that Israel is “operating responsibly and with determination” in Syria, during a meeting as part of Shoigu’s first ever visit to Israel since taking his position in 2012.
After an initial meeting between the two of them, Liberman and Shoigu were joined by the IDF chief of staff, the head of IDF Military Intelligence and the head of the powerful political-security affairs bureau of the Defense Ministry.
— Judah Ari Gross
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