Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a strong warning to Syria’s new regime following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. He said that Israel does not intend to “interfere in Syria’s internal affairs.” but, “If the new regime in Syria allows Iran to re-establish itself, or allows the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah we will respond strongly and exact a heavy price from it”, he said.
Netanyahu acknowledged that in order to keep vital Syrian military assets out of the hands of Islamic militants, Israel’s Air Force carried out strikes against them. He drew historical parallels between the strikes and the British Air Force’s World War II bombardment of the Vichy regime’s fleet to stop it from supporting the Nazis.
“We want to have relations with the new regime in Syria, but if this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or allow the transfer of Iranian weapons, or weapons of any kind to Hezbollah or attack us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price. What happened to the previous regime will also happen to this one,” he added.
