Avigdor Liberman: Israel to defend security interests on all fronts

Israel will not give up it’s security interests on any of Israel’s front, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Thursday while on a visit to northern Israel.

“We are prepared, ready and at the moment of truth will prove our ability and not give up our security interests,” Liberman said while visiting the Israel Air Force’s air defense near the city of Tzefat with Brig.-Gen Zvika Haimovitch Commander of the Aerial Defense Division.

Liberman, who visited the Patriot battery and David Sling battery and met with the commanders and soldiers of the array, including Cpt. Or Na’aman who commanded the Patriot battery which intercepted the a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and a Syrian drone which infiltrated into Israeli airspace.

According to Liberman, Assad’s return to the borders and re-consolidation of the country under his rule will bring quiet to the Golan Heights.

“From our perspective, the situation is returning to how it was before the civil war, meaning there is a real address, someone responsible, and central rule,” he said, adding that residents in the north should be less wary of a potential flare-up on the border.

“It is also Assad’s interest, because he understands what will happen if it does not return to the previous situation, and I assume that he will make his own decisions, however, as I have made clear, we will not give up our security interests.”

But, the defense minister stressed, “this is provided that all three points which are important to us are fulfilled,” reiterating that the Syrian regime must strictly adhere to the separation of forces agreement of 1974, that Syrian soil can not serve as a forward operating base by Iran against Israel and that Syria cannot be a waystation for arms smuggling to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“As soon as all three conditions are fulfilled, we have no interest in interfering or operating within Syrian territory. As soon as it does not exist, we will act in accordance with the security interest of the State of Israel,” he said.

Liberman’s visit comes after an IAF fighter jet carried out a strike on a number of armed terrorist operatives in the Syrian Golan Heights on Wednesday night. A search operation in the area on Thursday morning found explosive belts and a Kalashnikov rifle.

On Thursday, the IDF completed a large-scale military exercise in the north of the country, drilling the Northern Command and General Staff on various scenarios to maintain troop preparedness.

According to the military, the objective of the drill was to improve the Northern Command’s ability to fight, during a single-front war in the north as well as multi-front scenarios.

During the exercise, which was carried out in a number of sectors simultaneously,  troops drilled on defensive and offensive maneuver capabilities as well as firepower and intelligence gathering “over an extended period of time and in accordance with the changing situation.”

The IDF Spokesman Unit stressed that the exercise was planned in advance as part of the training program for 2018 and was intended to maintain the preparedness and readiness of troops.

Liberman also touched on the situation in Israel’s south, hours after it was announced that the entry of gas and fuel was banned from Gaza in response to spike in the number of incendiary aerial devices that Palestinians have launched towards Israeli communities, some even reaching the city of Beersheba for the first time.

According to him “Hamas clearly instructed that balloons and kites be flown out of populated homes, mainly by children, and we will act accordingly.”

“I decided to stop the supply of gas and fuel to the Gaza Strip and only allow in food and medicine until the kite story, the burning, is completely stopped,” he said, emphasizing that Gaza has no other alternative to bring in fuel except for the Kerem Shalom crossing.

“I hope that the public in Gaza will put pressure on the Hamas leadership and understand that there are far better alternatives to getting electricity for four hours a day.  They must completely stop all violence and if they want to, rehabilitation, and then reconstruction in return for demilitarization.”