Appearing to confirm Syria airstrike, Bennett says will keep fighting Iran

JERUSALEM (Agencies): Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday appeared to confirm that Israel was behind an airstrike against pro-Iranian forces in Syria the day before, saying the military was working to drive Tehran out of the country.

“We have moved from blocking Iran’s entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop,” Bennett said in a statement.

“We will not allow more strategic threats to grow just across our borders without taking action,” he said. “We will continue to take the fight to the enemy’s territory.”

The airstrike early Monday on a military airfield outside Damascus — the latest in a series of attacks on Tehran-linked forces in Syria in recent weeks — killed four pro-Iranian fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Three Syrian civilians were also reportedly killed by shrapnel, though it was not clear if the fragments came from the incoming missiles or Syria’s air defenses.

The Observatory said a number of Iranian-linked command centers were destroyed in the attack.

Bennett did not explicitly confirm Israel’s involvement in the airstrike, though his comments were seen as a clear hint to that effect.

A day before the strike, Bennett also appeared to signal that one was forthcoming, telling listeners in an interview on the 103FM radio station on Sunday to “keep your ears open” for news about Israeli actions against Iran in Syria.

“We’ve gone from a policy of blocking [Iran] to pushing it out,” Bennett added.

Israeli military officials have warned that acknowledging such strikes adds pressure on Iran and its proxies to retaliate in order to save face.

In his statement, which was released to coincide with Memorial Day Tuesday, Bennett said Tehran — like Israel’s other enemies — was still fighting against the Jewish state.

“We’ve not yet reached the point at which the enemies of Israel accept the existence of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel.

Unfortunately, I can’t promise that it will happen in our generation.

Even now, the Iranian regime and its proxies are working in an effort to harm the State of Israel and its citizens,” the defense minister said.