Naftali Bennett: We need to boost our campaign in Syria
According to the defense minister, a window of opportunity exists to strike at Iran in Syria.
By TAL LEV RAM/MAARIVIsraeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett looks at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to an Israeli army base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, November 24, 2019(photo credit: ATEF SAFADI/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said in closed talks that a strategic window of opportunity exists that could increase military pressure against Iranian targets in Syria. In Bennett's view, the IDF needs to act more intensively in Syria.Bennett called his conception of the tactics needed on the northern front, "braking to the exit." He said Iran's military force is still weak, so the danger posed to Israel is lower than it otherwise would be.According to Bennett, the current policy under which Israel has been operating in recent years, known in the IDF as the "Campaign between Wars", should be changed, in order to harm Iran's establishment in Syria and other regions.According to Bennett, there is now an opportunity to curb Iran and even cause it to leave Syria. This is in tandem with the US sanctions that are already seriously hurting the Iranian economy."If we do not act today and take advantage of the window of opportunity," Bennett argues, "in the more distant future, the risk will be greater, and they will paralyze us because of the military capability that is going to develop. More offensive military action alongside increased US economic sanctions and political pressure, these are the things that could get Iran out of Syria."Translated by Alex Winston
