PM Netanyahu
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed Sunday evening his opposition to the current ceasefire in south Syria that was brokered by the US and the Russians, claiming that the terms, framed to distance Iran from Israel’s northern borders, would perpetuated its presence in Syria.
The comments were made during a press conference the prime minister gave during his state visit to France, where he met with President Emmanuel Macron.
Netanyahu and Macron in joint press conference (צילום: רויטרס)
State officials said that “Iran is interested in sending its military forces and establishing naval and air bases in Syria, and this could change the picture and the situation in the area.”
The ceasefire went into effect last week forbids foreign militias supported by Iran from operating in strategic areas in Syria adjacent to the Israeli border with Jordan.
The area has witnessed some of the most intense fighting in the Syrian civil war between President Bashar al-Assad’s army and Syrian rebels, with stray fire often landing on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.
Speaking in a government meeting as the start of the ceasefire approached, Netanyahu said he welcomed the “genuine” ceasefire but added that “it cannot allow the establishment of the Iran’s military and its proxies in Syria and especially not south Syria.”
It was reported that Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on Netanyahu's statement, saying that Russia and the United States would do all they could to address Israeli concerns about the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.