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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israel can’t be stopped!!!
ain’t nothing “long” for i$rael but a six rope and gravity at this point…
a nation in decline. suitcase sales are up !
israhell’s golem, the jewsa, has taken a good beating from iran, and is bugging out of the gulf and the whole middle east. it is falling apart economically, financially (just passed forty trillion debt), politically, morally and spiritually. its military is a paper tiger. and following its genocidal antics, the kikenreich is reviled globally, especially now even in the jewsa. the jooz will soon have to face the music alone.
khazarian-zionist criminal syndicate’s impudence has no limits
samsonite option.
so be it. 911 should have ended them and the u.$. but didn’t. now the world will watch them play their losing sampson option and collectively die as the genocidal maniac they’ve always been, disguised as the “holocaust” victim. only the u.$. can stop it -but won’t!
your simplistic bullshit seems to have a never ending motion too.
israel is a parasite that only can do what its doing because the adelsons bought trump and the us tax payer is being milked by trump who handed the entire government and its military to israel.
the solution is simple end the jews and their control over the government.
nothing that a lamp post and a six foot length of rope can’t cure.
the arrogance of the apartheid regime in isreal. this regime sees threats only. where ever they want to go they invent a threat which is used to excuse their murder and theft. the whole world is their enemy, their doctrine even states it outright. the apartheid regime wage war by deception because deep down they are cowards.
you’re right there. but as for erdogan that mask will surely fall down, and as they say he may reap what he sawn.
i’m not so sure. president erdogan seems to have a number of masks. one mask that may slip is his nato mask. he seems quite sick of wearing it.
erdogan could have had good relations with syria under assad, but instead he started a islamist terror war against syria and supported the terror for years, so here we are with israel running riot all over the region murdering and killing, oh for the days of assad.
perhaps the headchopper of damascus has a choice to make. the new caliphate or the ‘greater isreal’
to bad erdawadd was not their when it was bombed
so isreal has a right to a sphere of influence but russia has not is that what the west is trying to tell us?
al sharaa é totalmente pró-israel. a máscara de al sharaa caiu! e agora erdogan? a vida dupla não é eterna, um dia ela acaba. vai fazer o que, bombardear israel ou se calar como cachorrinho?