Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to prevent enemy forces from acquiring advanced weaponry, a day after Syrian state media blamed Israel for missile strikes on Iranian weapons and storage facilities at Damascus’s airport on Saturday night.
Netanyahu spoke on Sunday at his weekly security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem ahead of Yom Kippur, the holiest days for Jews, which will begin at sunset Tuesday and last until Wednesday at sunset.
“This week we will mark, in synagogues and cemeteries, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our people, and the day on which, 45 years ago, we absorbed a bloody attack that cost us thousands of victims,” Netanyahu said.
“We must do everything to prevent war. Its victims destroy the lives of families and they are a gaping wound in the heart of the nation. However, if war is forced upon us, we must do everything to win with minimal losses,” he added.
On October 6, 1971, a combined attack by the armies and air forces of Egypt and Syria, breached Israeli defenses and launched a nearly three week war that cost the lives of some 2,800 Israelis and maimed and scarred thousands of others.
“Forty-five years ago, intelligence erred by holding to a mistaken assessment regarding the war intentions of Egypt and Syria. When these intentions became clear beyond all doubt, and when the danger was on our very doorstep, the political leadership made a grievous mistake by not allowing a pre-emptive strike. We will never repeat this mistake,” Netanyahu said about the upcoming anniversary for the Yom Kippur war.
Netanyahu also vowed to enforce the “red lines” that Israel has put forth with regards to enemies in the region.
“Israel is constantly working to prevent our enemies from arming themselves with advanced weaponry. Our red lines are as sharp as ever and our determination to enforce them is stronger than ever,” he concluded.
His remarks came less than 24 hours after Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Israeli missile attacks targeting the capital’s airport activated air defenses which shot down a number of projectiles
Israeli Hadashot TV on Sunday reported that the strikes targeted an Iranian plane delivering weapons for Revolutionary Guard units and pro-regime forces in Syria.
The strike also reportedly targeted a row of hangars inside the airport. Airport facilities which were used for Iranian cargo had allegedly been disguised. “United Nations” and “DHL” were spray painted onto the roofs of the warehouses, in an apparent attempt to evade Israeli intelligence-gathering efforts. Evidently, the sophisticated attempts did not prove successful.
Netanyahu has repeatedly warned Iran not to consolidate itself in Syria.
Earlier this month, Israel’s Defense Forces said it carried out more than 200 airstrikes in Syria over the last year, many of which Israel claimed were targeting Iranian positions and weapons convoys.
Israel has fired more than 800 missiles and mortar shells at targets in Syrian territory over the last year and a half, according to the statement.
Syria often attributes airstrikes on military bases to Israel, but the Jewish state only rarely confirms such strikes.
However, Israel admitted in May that it was behind the April 9 attack on an Iranian T-4 airbase in Syria. The Israeli army gave a more detailed description of the target, saying the strike was aimed at a shipment of advanced air defense weapons, which included one with a range of 110 kilometers.
The Israeli army also confirmed that it launched an extensive campaign of retaliatory strikes on Iranian-operated bases in Syria in May, responding to a barrage of rockets and missiles fired by Iran towards the Israeli part of the Golan Heights only hours before.
Syrian state media last reported Israeli strikes on September 4, when it said its air defenses downed several missiles in the coastal province of Tartus and in central Hama.
