Israel taking credit for attacking Iran in Syria provoked retaliation
Israel’s decision to take credit for strikes against Iranian targets in Syria over the last year provoked the Islamic Republic to retaliate against Israel, a top former IDF general told The Jerusalem Post.
“The prime minister and [Foreign Minister] Israel Katz started talking about the strikes,” Brig.-Gen. (res.) Zvika Haimovich, former commander of the IDF’s Aerial Defense Division, told the Post this week. “I prefer the previous silence. Once we opened the gates, they react.”
In February of last year, Iran launched a drone armed with explosives from the T-4 airbase in the Syrian province of Homs to carry out a sabotage attack in Israel. The drone was detected by Israel and was shot down by an Apache attack helicopter near Beit She’an.
It was the first time that Iran has directly tried to attack Israel.
“As a military man, you prefer activities over words,” Haimovich said. “You cannot fight or win fights with words – you can win with operations and missiles, and keeping it silent and under the radar, and away from the public and media. You will have many more advantages when you are silent than when it’s all over the press.”
