NOVANEWS
Times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday hinted at the possibility of military action along the border with Syria, saying that the vacuum left by departing UN peacekeepers on the Golan Heights was an indication that, when it came to security, Israel could only count on itself.
Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend on Syria, “where the situation is becoming daily more complex” for Israel given the potential for spillover on the Golan Heights.
“Israel is not intervening in the Syrian civil war, as long as fire is not being directed at us,” Netanyahu said. “The crumbling of the UN force on the Golan Heights underscores the fact that Israel cannot depend on international forces for its security. They can be part of the arrangements. They cannot be the basic foundation of Israel’s security.”
A fierce battle on Thursday between the Syrian army and rebels over the city of Quneitra, near the Israeli border on the Syrian Golan Heights, nearly brought Israel and Syria into open confrontation, according to a UN document leaked on Saturday by US-based blogger Nabil Abi Saab.
Alluding to controversial statements by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon to the effect that the government wouldn’t allow a two-state solution, Netanyahu also said the government should operate as “one unit” and asserted that the two-state solution would be the basis for any peace deal with the Palestinians.
The prime minister said he had spoken recently with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is due to arrive in the region this week, saying, “Together we will try to advance a way to find an opening for negotiations with the Palestinians with the goal of reaching an agreement. This agreement will be based on a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, and on solid security arrangements based on the IDF.”
