Israel: No Intention to Initiate Military Conflict with Syria

TEL AVIV – Defense Minister Avidgor Liberman said Monday that Israel will not initiate an attack against Syria in the near future, rejecting intense speculation that the next round of conflict is on the horizon.

“We have a lot of prophets here predicting a hot summer and war in the north and the south,” he told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “I want to make clear that we have no intention to initiate any military action in either the north or the south, but we will not ignore anything.”

However, the defense minister added that the military will not tolerate any provocations.

“We won’t hold back if necessary and when needed we will respond with all our might,” he said, referring to recent fire from Syria into the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.

“Anyone that wants to turn Syria into an Iranian and Hezbollah base against Israel should think again. We will not allow Syria to become another front against Israel,” he said.

The IDF on Saturday responded to around ten mortar shells from Syrian soil. Israel has made it clear that any fire – even accidental residue from regime forces fighting with rebel groups – would be met with a harsh response. Saturday’s strike reportedly killed two Syrian soldiers.

Syria in turn issued its own warning to Israel over the strike.

“The general staff of the Syrian army warns of the dangers of these aggressive actions and holds the Israeli enemy responsible for the grave consequences of these repeated actions, despite any excuse there may be,” the Syrian military said, alongside images of three men it claimed were Syrian soldiers killed in Israeli strikes.

Also on Sunday, Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij swore the regime would continue fighting until it conquers “every morsel of the homeland,” presumably including Israel’s side of the Golan Heights.

Israel has largely stayed out of the war, intervening in Syria only to strike weapons convoys bound for Hezbollah.

On Friday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that “hundreds of thousands of fighters” would assist Syria and Lebanon in a war with Israel.

“The Israeli enemy should know that if it launches an attack on Syria or Lebanon, it’s unknown whether the fighting will stay just between Lebanon and Israel, or Syria and Israel,” Nasrallah said, adding that a future conflict would be “very costly for Israel.”

“I’m not saying countries would intervene directly — but it would open the door for hundreds of thousands of fighters from all around the Arab and Islamic world to participate in this fight — from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan,” he said.