LIBERMAN: ISRAEL WILL REACT FORCEFULLY IF SYRIA USES S-300 AGAINST

srael will react with force if Russian air defense systems are used against its jets by troops belonging to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York City on Sunday.

“No doubt we will take the action,”  Liberman stressed when asked by Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, if that meant striking the Russian made S-300 advanced missile defense system.

Last week senior Russian officials stated that Moscow was once again considering supplying the system at no cost to the Assad regime following US-led strikes against several military sites after a deadly chemical weapons attack on the town of Douma on April 7th.

“We will keep our freedom of operation in all of Syria. We have no intention to attack Russia or to interfere in domestic Syrian issues. But if somebody thinks that it is possible to launch missiles or to attack Israel or even our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully.”

Over the course of Syria’s eight-year long civil war Israel has publicly admitted to having struck over 100 Hezbollah convoys and other Iranian targets in Syria, while keeping mum on hundreds of other strikes attributed to it.

Liberman, along with other senior Israeli officials, has been warning of Iranian entrenchment on the Golan Heights, an area of key strategic importance for the Jewish State, stressing that it is a red line for Jerusalem.

Israel has only three problems, the defense minister said: “Iran, Iran, Iran.”

“Iran is trying to destabilize the whole region, not only in Israel. Look at what is happening in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria. Iran supports and creates proxies around Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad would not survive one week without Iranian support,” he said, adding that over 85% of Hezbollah’s budget come from Iran.

According to him, the cancellation of the Iranian deal (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) would have a massive effect on Iran’s economy, a “huge consideration” for the regime as it will suffer a massive blow that will harm its ability to support terror and anti-Israel activities.

Liberman, who recently met with National Security Adviser John Bolton at the White House and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, said that the United States had not asked for any advice from Jerusalem to cancel the deal or not

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman responds to a question about the assassination of a Palestinian in Malaysia, suspected to be a Mossad operation, at the 7th Annual Jpost Conference in NY (JBS TV)

“It’s not our business. It is an American decision and they didn’t ask any advice from our side. We understand that they have their ideas and their approach. We can only speak to our position which is very clear. We think that it is a very, very bad deal which was a huge mistake and from our point of view there is no reason to have this deal,” he said.

Source:The Jerusalem Post