WarSclerotic

If Israel had not taken action, Iran would already possess nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, in response to a joint U.S.-Russian statement Saturday outlining principles for post-war Syria.

Iran is a longtime backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israel has long complained about the involvement of Iran and Iranian proxy Hezbollah in the ongoing civil war in Syria. Israel has said it will not tolerate the presence of Iran or its Shiite allies in Syria, particularly near Syria’s shared border with Israel.

Israel signaled on Sunday that it would keep up military strikes to thwart the delivery of weapons to Hezbollah, as well as to prevent any encroachment by Iranian-allied forces.

“We are making sure Israel is secure, and we are doing it well – you know that,” Netanyahu told his Likud party at their weekly meeting on Monday.

“We are doing it with a balanced combination of strength and responsibility. We are defending our borders, we are defending our country and we will continue to do this,” he said.

“I have communicated to our friends in Washington, first of all, and also to our friends in Moscow that Israel will take action in Syria, including southern Syria, as we see fit and according to our security needs. That is the deciding factor, and it will continue to be the deciding factor.”

Later, during an address before the Knesset plenum, Netanyahu said that “we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Arab world’s moderate states. Together we are confronting the threat of radical Islam, whether it comes from the direction of Iran or of ISIS or from others.”

“If it hadn’t been for our [Israel’s] actions, Iran would have become nuclear a long time ago. Iran knows very well, and everyone here should know, that we will not tolerate [Iran’s] military presence in Syria,” he said. “At this point, the only reason Iran does not possess nuclear weapons is because of our activity.”