Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman completed a two-day tour of Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria, where the Israeli top defense official was briefed by officers about the developments on the ground and the IDF’s readiness to confront the various challenges. At the end of the tour, Minister Lieberman declared that Israel “won’t allow Syria to become a forward outpost against the State of Israel,” and warned Israel’s enemies that “anyone who has not understood that, should better understand,” while emphasizing that “The IDF is well-prepared and ready for any scenario.” The Israeli Defense Minister also took the opportunity to once again reiterate Jerusalem’s position, in which “(Israel) maintains absolute freedom of action, and the only considerations guiding (it) is the State of Israel’s security considerations, including with respect to Iran.” Lieberman further underlined that Israel “simply will not allow a Shi’ite entrenchment and an Iranian entrenchment in Syria.” A senior Israeli defense official told TV7 that Minister Lieberman’s statement was made as a direct response to statements made this week by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in which he defined the Iranian presence in Syria as legitimate. The official asserted that the statements by Minister Lavrov has shown Moscow’s true face. He explained that despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing efforts to win over Russian President Vladimir Putin, to appease and please him, Russia has made it clear that it is not an ally of the Jewish state, but rather is willing to cooperate with Israel merely on a tactical level, to prevent a military clash with the IDF in Syria, but on a strategic level, the Russian’s interests of safeguarding the Assad regime takes clear precedence over Israel’s security interests.
