Israel won’t tolerate Iran's military presence in Syria, Netanyahu says

Israel won’t tolerate Iran's military presence in Syria, Netanyahu says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel will prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria, and will continue intervening to stop Iran arming Hezbollah and other Shiite militias there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday, November 10, in Jerusalem, The Times of Israel reports.

“Israel, Russia, the United States and many other countries share the objective of defeating the Islamic State,” Netanyahu said standing next to Medvedev in the Prime Minister’s Office.

“At the same time, we are also concerned by the second actor promoting radical Islam — Iran — which champions the destruction of Israel and also supports 360-degree terror on five continents.”

Hence, Israel is determined to do two things, Netanyahu said: “First, prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons and second, to prevent Iran — in any situation that arises in Syria, with or without an agreement — from establishing itself militarily in Syria, on the ground, in the air or at sea. We are also determined to prevent it from bringing about the establishment of Shiite militias, which it is organizing, and of course, the arming of Hezbollah with dangerous weapons aimed at us.”

The prime minister thanked his Russian counterpart for the close security coordination — a so-called deconflicting mechanism — aimed at preventing clashes between Israeli and Russian fighter jets from clashing over Syria, as Israel routinely enters the country’s airspace to prevent hostile actors from smuggling arms or planning attacks.

“This, too, highlights the dramatic change in our bilateral relations,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also thanked Medvedev for agreeing to help return to Israel the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, and three Israeli citizens currently held in Gaza.

Medvedev, too, hailed the improvement in bilateral relations, stressed the “special values” that Russians and Israelis have in common. “Every time I visit Israel I feel at home,” he said. “Our countries have common challenges, primarily terrorism. Terror threatens the entire world but in this region it is felt particularly strongly.”

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