Netanyahu says Israel undeterred after Syria shoots down F-16

[webfact]

Netanyahu says Israel undeterred after Syria shoots down F-16

By Jeffrey Heller and Lisa Barrington

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem February 11, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

 

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces would press ahead with Syria operations despite their loss of an advanced warplane to enemy fire for the first time in 36 years.

 

Syrian anti-aircraft fire downed the F-16 as it returned from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria early on Saturday. The Iran-backed forces are supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's near seven-year civil war.

 

Israel then launched a second and more intensive air raid, hitting what it said were 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including Syrian air defence systems.

 

However, Israel and Syria have both signalled they are not seeking wider conflict and on Sunday their frontier was calm, though Netanyahu struck a defiant tone on Sunday in remarks to his cabinet broadcast by Israeli media.

 

"Yesterday we landed hard blows on the forces of Iran and Syria. We made unequivocally clear to everyone that our modus operandi has not changed one bit," he said.

 

Iran's involvement in Syria, including the deployment of Iran-backed forces near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, has alarmed Israel, which has said it would counter any threat. Israel also has accused Iran of planning to build precision-guided missile factories in Lebanon.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said Israel's strikes on Saturday had killed at least six people from Syrian government and allied forces. Syrian state media have yet to disclose any casualties or damage.

 

The downing of the F-16 over northern Israel - as the air force struck back for what it said was an incursion by an Iranian drone launched from Syria - was a rare setback for a country that relies on regional military supremacy.

 

Security cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio the Iranian drone was modelled on the U.S. RQ-170 drone that was downed in Iran in 2011. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately comment.

 

The jet's two-man crew survived with injuries, and Israeli generals insisted they had inflicted much greater damage in Syria - even as Damascus claimed a strategic gain in the decades-old standoff with its old foe to the south.

 

"BROADEST ATTACK" ON SYRIA DEFENCES

 

Israel said it had destroyed three Syrian anti-aircraft batteries and four targets "that are part of Iran's military establishment" in Syria during Saturday's raids.

 

"This is the broadest attack on Syria's defence systems since (Operation) Peace for the Galilee," air force Brigadier-General Amnon Ein Dar told Army Radio, referring to Israel's 1982 Lebanon offensive, in which it battled Syrian forces.

 

It was also the first downing of an Israeli warplane by enemy fire since that conflict.

 

In Syria, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper said the country's air defences had "destroyed the myth of Israeli air superiority in the region".

 

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which fights in support of Assad in Syria, spoke of the "start of a new strategic phase" that would limit Israel's activity in Syrian airspace, where Israeli planes have regularly attacked suspected weapons shipments to the Islamist movement.

 

Both the United States, Israel's closest ally, and Russia, which supports Assad in the Syrian civil war, have expressed concern over the latest clashes.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was due to begin a previously scheduled visit to the region on Sunday, expecting what a State Department official said would be "tough conversations". He is due to travel to Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Kuwait during the Feb 11-16 trip. 

 

In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Netanyahu affirmed Israel's right to self-defence and pledged continued cooperation with Moscow to avoid inadvertent clashes with Russian forces in Syria.

 

Putin, whose country supplies Syria's air defence systems, urged Netanyahu to avoid an escalation of the conflict.

 

The Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk consultancy, said in a commentary that "in order to reinforce deterrence, Israeli leaders will probably assess they need to show Iran, Hezbollah and Syria they will continue to strike targets despite the risk".

 

"(But) in a fog of war environment, another incident can easily drag the relevant parties toward a regional conflict."

 

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Lisa Barrington in Beirut; Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-12

[ostyan]

What a hell israel, this country with the highest democracy sense and the most peaceful one wants to do in a third country?

Edited February 12, 2018 by ostyan

[Bluespunk]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

In Syria, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper said the country's air defences had "destroyed the myth of Israeli air superiority in the region".

Yeah, right...

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, ostyan said:

What a hell israel, this country with the highest democracy sense and the most peaceful one wants to do in a third country?

Translation into coherence please. 

[dave_boo]

Interesting; the F-16 is only a single seat plane. I assume they meant the F-16I (רעם) as that's Israel's ground attack twin seat plane when they stated "The jet's two-man crew survived with injuries".

[Morch]

1 hour ago, dave_boo said:

Interesting; the F-16 is only a single seat plane. I assume they meant the F-16I (רעם) as that's Israel's ground attack twin seat plane when they stated "The jet's two-man crew survived with injuries".

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon_variants#F-16I_Sufa

[Chris Lawrence]

They now have 101 of these aircraft.

 

What ever you do don't upset the Israeli's as they have the longest memories. They never forget or forgive.

 

"Respect" 

[nausea]

The problem for Israel is they only have to lose once; the other arabs can lose a thousand times; demographics rules; reminds me of Carthage v. Rome.

[Kiwiken]

Someone flies a Drone by error or design over occupied territory(Golan heights) and you then launch a series of cross border raids on the Country (Syria) from where the drone came from. And this is justified? Amazing that all the major powers have not attacked each other yet.

Israel was right to shoot down the drone.

And wrong to launch cross border attacks. Should they have killed Russian Personnel they may well get a response they did not count on.

[Morch]

5 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

Someone flies a Drone by error or design over occupied territory(Golan heights) and you then launch a series of cross border raids on the Country (Syria) from where the drone came from. And this is justified? Amazing that all the major powers have not attacked each other yet.

Israel was right to shoot down the drone.

And wrong to launch cross border attacks. Should they have killed Russian Personnel they may well get a response they did not count on.

 

Another alternative facts deflection post.

 

It wasn't "someone" - but Iranian forces stationed in Syria, both countries openly hostile to Israel. It wasn't there by "error" - the flight path was tracked. It did not fly over "occupied territory(Golan heights)" - the UAV flew over Jordan before crossing Israel's border.

 

There wasn't a "series of cross border raids in response" - the initial response's main target was the control element of the UAV. The second wave of airstrikes came after an Israeli aircraft was intercepted. As for Russian personnel - targets attacked were Iranian or Syrian. Considering Israel's surveillance on Syria's air defenses and Israel's ongoing coordination with Russia, pretty sure they know which facilities to avoid.

 

And as usual only one side is called upon to maintain balance and avoid provocations.

[Thorgal]

21 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

Someone flies a Drone by error or design over occupied territory(Golan heights) and you then launch a series of cross border raids on the Country (Syria) from where the drone came from. And this is justified? Amazing that all the major powers have not attacked each other yet.

Israel was right to shoot down the drone.

And wrong to launch cross border attacks. Should they have killed Russian Personnel they may well get a response they did not count on.

 

Anyone hostile to the Syrian government (ISIS, Al Nusra franchise) can send a drone over Israel, which will result in immediate Israeli retaliation to Syrian or Iranian forces nearby.

 

Furthermore, US taxpayers should not be amused with such costly decisions from Israel.

 

And let's not forget that Syrian army and their proxies/allies are doing everything to stop radical Islamism in the region. Inderectly OP can be seen as Israel supporting the wrong people who did terrible attacks in EU...Africa and the Middle East...

[pegman]

Get your shots in now Bibi as your lawless gig is about to end with you behind bars.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/police-set-to-publish-recommendations-in-netanyahu-corruption-probes-1.5812016

[JemJem]

All this is really bad, man. Israel's and Turkey's actions are causing Islamist rebel groups (many of which, I am sure, include many ex-ISIS and ex-Al Qaeda terrorists) to consolidate their positions. 

[Morch]

 

@Thorgal

 

More of your attempts at spins and conspiracy theories. No, not anyone is in the possession of such UAVs, and not anyone can send them roaming about Syria, Jordan and Israel. Try harder.

 

The very same Syrian regime you praise released Islamist terrorists from its prisons to fight and discredit the original resistance to its rule, and later on had no qualms about dealing with the very same Islamist forces for oil. Try harder.

 

This was an Iranian UAV. It flew from Syria, through Jordan, crossing the border into Israel. This has nothing to do with ISIS nor the rest of your deflections.

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Morch

[Morch]

5 hours ago, JemJem said:

All this is really bad, man. Israel's and Turkey's actions are causing Islamist rebel groups (many of which, I am sure, include many ex-ISIS and ex-Al Qaeda terrorists) to consolidate their positions. 

 

Do tell...how does Israel responding to an Iranian provocation cause Islamist rebel groups to consolidate positions? If anything, perhaps your criticism ought to be directed at Iran and Assad's regime for not focusing on such Islamist rebel groups and conducting operations against Israel.

[JemJem]

7 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Do tell...how does Israel responding to an Iranian provocation cause Islamist rebel groups to consolidate positions? If anything, perhaps your criticism ought to be directed at Iran and Assad's regime for not focusing on such Islamist rebel groups and conducting operations against Israel.

Well, okay,  I guess you are partly right about Israel (at least, unlike Turkey, Israel hasn't invaded Syria). But still, Assad and the Iranians know better than to attack Israel in a major way. These are just minor stuff. So, Israel shouldn't overdo its response.

[ostyan]

On 2/13/2018 at 11:46 AM, Morch said:

 

Another alternative facts deflection post.

 

It wasn't "someone" - but Iranian forces stationed in Syria, both countries openly hostile to Israel. It wasn't there by "error" - the flight path was tracked. It did not fly over "occupied territory(Golan heights)" - the UAV flew over Jordan before crossing Israel's border.

 

There wasn't a "series of cross border raids in response" - the initial response's main target was the control element of the UAV. The second wave of airstrikes came after an Israeli aircraft was intercepted. As for Russian personnel - targets attacked were Iranian or Syrian. Considering Israel's surveillance on Syria's air defenses and Israel's ongoing coordination with Russia, pretty sure they know which facilities to avoid.

 

And as usual only one side is called upon to maintain balance and avoid provocations.

2

An excellent example of a biased troll comment.

 

It wasn't "someone" - but Iranian forces stationed in SyriaHow do you know that? Were you who launched the drone? Maybe you not, but listened and accepted the report of  an army , but without critical thinking?

[pkspeaker]

8 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Do tell...how does Israel responding to an Iranian provocation cause Islamist rebel groups to consolidate positions? If anything, perhaps your criticism ought to be directed at Iran and Assad's regime for not focusing on such Islamist rebel groups and conducting operations against Israel.

The alqueda/alnusra islamist rebel groups near the israeli occupied golan are backed by israel, israel has attacked syrian govt tanks and armored vehicles during clashes with rebels in the golan area.. they often use the pre-text that a stray shell landed on their side of the golan but everytime they attack govt positions and never islamist positions.. but despite this it appears Syrian troops are slowly closing in on the border and they will probably take it last after they finish off the rebels in the north of the country (idlib) and finish off the pockets of resistance near damascus which is what they are doing now..

[Morch]

2 hours ago, JemJem said:

Well, okay,  I guess you are partly right about Israel (at least, unlike Turkey, Israel hasn't invaded Syria). But still, Assad and the Iranians know better than to attack Israel in a major way. These are just minor stuff. So, Israel shouldn't overdo its response.

 

Not sure what is your point - that because Assad/Iran is fighting ISIS, they've got license to carry out such actions against Israel? That destroying Syrian air-defense systems effects the Syrian capability to fight ISIS? Perhaps a better argument would be against trying such "minor stuff" to begin with. This is the ME, and hitting back in force is not unusual. Letting it go could have been perceived as weakness by the Iranians, in a way which would have encouraged further actions.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, pkspeaker said:

The alqueda/alnusra islamist rebel groups near the israeli occupied golan are backed by israel, israel has attacked syrian govt tanks and armored vehicles during clashes with rebels in the golan area.. they often use the pre-text that a stray shell landed on their side of the golan but everytime they attack govt positions and never islamist positions.. but despite this it appears Syrian troops are slowly closing in on the border and they will probably take it last after they finish off the rebels in the north of the country (idlib) and finish off the pockets of resistance near damascus which is what they are doing now..

 

There are rebel groups near the Israeli border, to which Israel provides humanitarian support. Getting into who they are precisely is a lost effort on this forum, where detail is often dismissed in favor of generalizations. There is no general Israeli support of such groups all over Syria or intervening militarily in their favor to promote their goals. Israel's interest here is to keep the border front as quiet as possible.

 

Israel does occasionally attack Assad's forces (and rebel groups, for that matter, regardless of your "never" statement) near the border, when either shoots over the border. It is not a "pretext", but a standing policy.

 

All of this does not really relate to the post I replied to.

 

 

Do tell...how does Israel responding to an Iranian provocation cause Islamist rebel groups to consolidate positions? If anything, perhaps your criticism ought to be directed at Iran and Assad's regime for not focusing on such Islamist rebel groups and conducting operations against Israel.

[pkspeaker]

Every time when there was an errant shell landing on the israeli side (non of them caused injury or death), the israeli's hit syrian govt positions in response to the shell, there was never one time they hit the islamists that are their fighting for an al-queda state in syria.  They do this because they know alqueda will always loose and they are just trying to weaken syria or to keep the civil war in that country going as long as possible.  The Iranians are in Syria along with Iraqi's and Lebanese fighting these alqueda groups, they are not attacking the israeli occupied part of the golan but are simply assisting the syrian government in wresting control of the country bit-by-bit from rebel factions.. 

[Morch]

 

@pkspeaker

 

Pretty much like the parallel topic: you keep posting incorrect general statements as facts, whereas even a cursory search of the net would indicate otherwise. As opposed to the claimed "none of them caused injury or death" - there were Israeli casualties caused by incoming fire from Syria, and as opposed to the "never one time hit" - there were Islamic terrorists attacked by Israel following Syrian border incidents. The same goes for Hezbollah actions against Israel from Syria, or Iran's involvement. There are several compilations detailing such incidents on Wikipedia (here's one), and of course, most have been covered by various media sources. Whether you are simply unaware of facts or intentionally distort them does not change reality.

 

And I guess that geography needs to be addressed again. Considering the position of parties involved, most fire in Israel's direction will obviously be from pro-Assad forces.

 

 

[pkspeaker]

I dont see anything on that wiki link you provided that says israel attacked anything but Syrian Govt troops or allied militia's.  The list there says over and over again that Israel attacked Syrian troops, I do not see even 1 entry where they attacked these alqueda scumbags they are supporting and everytime they blamed the Syrian govt for any errant fire on their side..  I was only able to find 1 israeli soldier 'slightly injured' from these incidents and (1) 14 year old boy son of a contractor driving a water truck along the fence-line was killed.. but Israel has killed dozens of Syrian's in the past few years and hit tanks and other heavy equipment that was fighting the rebels..  you put up a link that basically confirms what I just said and then you claim it is contradicting what I said

 

..reading that wiki link you put up there is no wonder that Syria has moved SAM missiles up to put at end to these murders .. 

Edited February 16, 2018 by pkspeaker

[Morch]

 

@pkspeaker

 

More nonsense. Alright.

 

There's a clear reference, on the left hand side, where casualty figures and sides involved are presented, which may give you a clue as to what you've missed. As for the other deflection - recall your former bold assertions was that there weren't any cases of "injury or death" on the Israeli side. That you seem "unable to find" clearly referenced information on a Wikipedia page is bizarre, to say the least - there are actually more instances of injuries detailed therein, not  too hard to find, really. Changing your "argument" to yet another faux one, doesn't make the original carry more weight.

 

But to address this new nonsense argument, the link does not "confirm" your previous claims, but refutes them. That you imply Syria forces are entitled to immunity does not make it so. Fighting Islamic rebels does not give Syria license to target Israel or a free pass with regard to the inaptness of its military forces.

 

The last line is bogus as well - these are not "murders", and Syria did not "move SAM missiles up" to counter them. As most of these incidents involve ground forces, SAM missiles would hardly be relevant anyhow.

 

 

[Grouse]

On 14/02/2018 at 6:33 PM, JemJem said:

Well, okay,  I guess you are partly right about Israel (at least, unlike Turkey, Israel hasn't invaded Syria). But still, Assad and the Iranians know better than to attack Israel in a major way. These are just minor stuff. So, Israel shouldn't overdo its response.

Er, the Golan Heights?

[Morch]

1 minute ago, Grouse said:

Er, the Golan Heights?

 

Er, that's been this way since way before the the Syrian Civil War? Turkey's is a current move.

[Grouse]

6 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Er, that's been this way since way before the the Syrian Civil War? Turkey's is a current move.

Merely stating facts. The Golan Heights are Syrian territory occupied by Israel? 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights

 

Even the Americans recognise this area as being OCCUPIED by Israel. But, heh, what's international law when you're on the side of righteousness ?

Edited February 16, 2018 by Grouse

[Morch]

5 minutes ago, Grouse said:

Merely stating facts. The Golan Heights are Syrian territory occupied by Israel? 

 

More like merely deflecting. The Golan Heights is Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel. This state of things did not have a major bearing on the Syrian Civil War. It's been this way since 1973. The Turkish military incursion and presence in northern Syria is current, and is directly related to the Syrian Civil War.

Edited February 16, 2018 by Morch

[Grouse]

2 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

More like merely deflecting. The Golan Heights is Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel. This state of things did not have a major bearing on the Syrian Civil War. It's been this way since 1973. The Turkish military incursion and presence in northern Syria is current, and is directly related to the Syrian Civil War.

Don't take that tone with me.

 

I am not deflecting in any way. The point is entirely germane and of interest to other contributors, I would have thought.

 

Anyway, again, good night; I'll leave you to it 

[metisdead]

Troll posts and the replies have been removed.