Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday praised the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, arguing that it was a “direct result” of Israeli attacks on Iran and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu made the remarks in a public speech shortly after news broke that Assad had fled Damascus on Saturday night with his family. Islamist rebels took the city on Sunday. Netanyahu warned that the fall of the Assad regime is, however, “fraught with significant dangers.”
“This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but is also fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, the government of Assad’s main supporters, unleashed a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression,” Netanyahu said.
SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIC REBELS CONQUER THE COUNTRY
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a televised statement on November 26 in Jerusalem. (Israel Government Press Office via AP)
The Israeli leader also noted that the fall of the Syrian regime also prompted action by the Israel Defense Forces, which were forced to take positions abandoned by the Syrian army near the border with Israel.
“But it also means that we have to take measures against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria. This agreement stood for 50 years. Last night it collapsed,” he continued. . “The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to Israel’s border. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable agreement is found.” .
Opposition fighters remove a government flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria, Saturday, December 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA TAKE THE REGIMES OF ASSAD, PUTIN AND IRAN WITH THE GUARD GIVING A NEW HEADACHE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Netanyahu closed by offering a “hand of peace” to the people of Syria, including “Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel.”
Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks to The Associated Press at the presidential palace in Damascus on September 21, 2016. (AP/Syrian Presidency)
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“Likewise, we send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We will follow developments. “If we can Establish neighborly relations and peace with the new forces that are emerging in Syria, that is our desire. But if we don’t, we will do whatever is necessary to defend the State of Israel and Israel’s border,” Netanyahu said. concluded.
