Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserts in an August 19 podcast interview that Israel will not tolerate a Turkish military buildup “that descends south because it threatens us.”
The comments come a day after a series of Israeli strikes targeted Abu al-Duhur air base in northwestern Syria, which was being rebuilt, with later reports suggesting that a Turkish military delegation had visited the site earlier.
During the Hebrew-language interview, Netanyahu warned Turkey against carrying out such military deployment in Syria, saying in English, “Don’t.”
“Now, we saw that there was an intention by Turkey to establish itself in an airfield near Aleppo. And we delivered a message,” he said, adding that “the message was delivered, but apparently they didn’t hear it. So we made sure they understood it in a better way.”
Reuters reported that the head of Mossad, Roman Gofman, held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani last week, specifically on August 14, although it is unclear from the report if the first warning Netanyahu spoke about was delivered by the Israeli spy chief during that call.
The call marked one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the new Syrian government since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad more than a year ago.
The Israeli strikes on Abu al-Duhur drew condemnation from U.S. special envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack, who also happens to be the ambassador to Ankara.
Despite this, a report from Channel 12 revealed that President Donald Trump’s administration became more inclined to trust Israeli intelligence indicating Turkish military buildup in Syria. The intelligence were reportedly used to justify the strikes on the air base.
A U.S. official told the news channel that even though Washington is inclined to believe the Israeli intelligence on the matter, he still wishes that Israel had addressed the matter through non-military means and is increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu’s overall aggressive policies in the region.
Moreover, the U.S. official lamented Israel’s refusal to activate a deconfliction mechanism that it had agreed to establish with Syria in January in order to prevent Tuesday’s strike.
Asked about it during an interview with Channel 12, Trump avoided criticizing the strike, as he apparently seeks to maintain publicly warm ties with Netanyahu, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Earlier in the day, Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited territories in southern Syria occupied after the fall of the Assad regime.
After holding an assessment with officers there, the senior Israeli commander said the military “will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along our borders.”
“We see what is happening and are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front. We must prepare for them accordingly,” Zamir said, according to remarks provided by the military.
“We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along our borders, and we will know how to use our power precisely where it is needed and when it is needed,” he added.
The commander also stressed the military “must prevent the development of terror threats, while at the same time preventing the emergence of a significant military threat along our borders.”
The latest remarks by Netanyahu and Zamir indicate that Israel is prepared to escalate further against both Turkey and Syria, despite the clear objection from the U.S. Besides these warnings, on the same day the strikes hit Abu al-Duhur, the Israeli military deployed the 190th Squadron armed with Apache attack helicopters from Ramon Airbase in the south to Ramat David Airbase in the north, close to the front with Syria.
While Turkey slammed Israel over the latest strikes, there is no indication that Syria has abandoned its plans to reach a security agreement with Israel.
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