Hours after Israel said it preempted an attack from Syria by Iranian “killer drones,” Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said Sunday that Iran is now in “direct military confrontation” with Israel.
Hanegbi claimed Iran had been preparing to launch hundreds of attack drones at Israel from the site bombed by Israel on Saturday night. But the Israeli military said the number was certainly not in the hundreds, and almost certainly not even dozens.
The airstrike preempted the Iranian plans which, Hanegbi said, was soon to have been put into operation and was intended to “kill Israelis and Jews.”
The Israel Defense Forcse has not identified the specific targets of the Iranian plot, but officials said it was military sites and national infrastructure. The IDF had been monitoring the Iranian base for some time, Hanegbi noted.
Iran, he said, “is trying to wear down Israel” by funding terror groups to its north and south — a reference to Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip. There is now “a direct military confrontation” between Iran and Israel, added the Likud minister.
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| Minister Tzachi Hanegbi arrives at the weekly cabinet meeting, |
Earlier, Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin both told media that the airstrike was intended to send a message to Iran that it has no immunity against Israel’s military.
However, Democratic Camp member Ehud Barak on Sunday accused the government of using the airstrike to gain political points ahead of upcoming September 17 elections.
“It has no connection to deterrence, that is political hogwash,” Barak told the Ynet website. (Read More)
