Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government wants to establish relations with the new Syrian authorities, but warned the insurgents that if they allow Iran to re-establish a presence in the country, they will suffer the same fate as Bashar al-Assad.
"We want relations with the new regime in Syria. But if this regime allows Iran to reestablish itself in Syria or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond with force," the president said from Tel Aviv.
"What happened to the old regime will also happen to this one," he said.
His message comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had destroyed more than 70% of the strategic military capabilities of the former government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria in recent days, including missile depots, fighter planes, tanks and radars.
In his message, recorded on the streets of Tel Aviv after his first court appearance in his corruption trial, Netanyahu made it clear that his country has no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs, but will do "whatever is necessary" for its security.
The president also confirmed his authorization to the Israeli air force to destroy Al Assad's "strategic military capabilities" in order to prevent them "falling into the hands of the jihadists."
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces estimated that they had destroyed more than 70% of Assad's military capabilities in Syria, which amounts to some 320 "strategic targets" from Damascus to Tartus.
Israeli forces have categorically denied reports of their tanks advancing towards Damascus, saying that their forces remain within the demilitarized zone in the south of the country, where they were deployed early Sunday morning, and in some adjacent areas, both on the Israeli and Syrian sides of the border.
Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated today that Israeli troops want to create a security zone, without heavy weapons, beyond the current demilitarized zone that Israel and Syria agreed to in 1974 in their separation of forces agreement. EFE and Aurora
Netanyahu: Israel wants relations with new Syrian authorities, but without Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO via Flickr
Everything that Benjamin NETANYAHU said he has fulfilled, he decapitated the terrorists of Hezbollah, those of HAMAS and the AYATOLAS and has him where he wants to have him. All that remains is to crush the head of the snake and next year he will attack its NUCLEAR facilities. Any other man in ISRAEL like the Beny, LAPID and more, would have surrendered to the BIDEN AND BLINKEN. TODAY, they have a man who will defend them and even attend the US Congress twice. Time will prove me right as it has already proven me right with results.