Meretz head: Israel must avoid full-blown confrontation in north

MK Tamar Zandberg, the chairwoman of the left-wing Meretz party, warned on Saturday that Israel must act with caution to avoid a full-blown confrontation in the north, following large-scale Israeli airstrikes in Syria last week, said to have hit some 50 Iranian targets.

The air campaign, said to be the largest in Syria in 40 years, came in response to an Iranian barrage of 20 missiles toward Israel just after midnight on Thursday, forcing residents of the north into bomb shelters, according to the IDF. Four of the missiles were knocked down by the Iron Dome air defense system and the rest fell short of Israeli territory, according to the military.

During a tour of northern Israel Saturday, Zandberg said that Israelis had been through an intense week as fears of violence mounted following the confrontation.

“The security of Israeli citizens is the state’s top duty, but we must act with caution so as not to enter a full-blown confrontation that will only increase the danger to Israeli residents,” she was quoted as saying by the Hebrew-language news site Walla.

Zandberg met with residents in the Golan Heights and with Golan Regional Council head Eli Malka, as well as the head of the Katzrin Regional Council, Dmitry Apartzev.

Israeli officials said this weekend that Israel’s response to the Iranian attack has made it clear to Tehran that it does not possess the operational infrastructure it needs in Syria to successfully contend with IDF capabilities, according to a Friday report by Hadashot TV news.

Officials told the channel Friday night that the security cabinet believes Iran “has gotten the Israeli message, and won’t mess with us in the near future.”

על הר בנטל עם ראש מועצה אזורית גולן אלי מלכה. שבוע שקט לכולם/ן pic.twitter.com/HMW42djaZz

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— תמר זנדברג (@tamarzandberg) May 12, 2018

The army has told ministers in the top forum that it believes the current round of hostilities to be over, though tensions in the north will persevere, and border incidents are still possible, the report said.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 11 Iranians were among 27 killed in the Israeli retaliatory strikes.

Israel has blamed the Revolutionary Guard’s al-Quds Force for the attack Thursday.

The Israeli military published pictures Friday of what it said was an Iranian Quds Force compound in al-Kisweh, south of Damascus, and an “Iranian logistics compound” 10 kilometers northwest of the capital.

On Friday, speaking in northern Israel, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad, telling him to “throw” Iranian forces out of his country.

“I want to use this opportunity to give Assad a message,” he said. “Throw out the Iranians, throw out Qassem Soleimani and the Quds force. They don’t help you, they only harm you, and their presence causes only problems and damage.”

Liberman also told Israelis they should not let the threat from Syria deter them from visiting the north. “You can come, you can return to the bed and breakfasts, to tour, to hike,” he said. “There are truly amazing views and among the most beautiful places, and there is no problem. We are back to normal.”

He said that it was a mistake to think that Thursday morning’s attacks on the Iranian bases had completely solved the problem, but that the army was ready for anything and would continue to do whatever necessary to ensure Israel is secure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel would be victorious in its “ongoing campaign” against Iran.

“I have established a basic principle: Whoever strikes us, we are going to strike them,” Netanyahu said.

Israel has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria, where the Islamic Republic backs Assad’s regime in the country’s seven-year civil war.