PM Netanyahu Statement on Attack in Syria
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Thursday, 10 May 2018),
issued the following statement:

"Iran crossed a red line. We responded accordingly. The IDF carried out a
very wide-ranging attack against Iranian targets in Syria.

Thanks to a correct deployment of our forces both offensively and
defensively, the Iranian action failed. No rocket landed in Israeli
territory and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to establish a
military presence in Syria.

Yesterday I delivered a clear message to the Assad regime: Our action is
directed against Iranian targets in Syria; however, if the Syrian military
acts against us, we will act against it. This is exactly what happened
yesterday – Syrian military batteries fired surface-to-air missiles against
us and, therefore, we attacked them.

The international community needs to prevent the Iranian Al-Quds force from
establishing itself in Syria. We need to unite in order to cut off its
spreading tentacles of evil there and everywhere.

I repeat: Whoever hurts us – we will hurt them sevenfold, and whoever is
preparing to hurt us – we will act to hit them first. This is what we have
done and this is what we will continue to do."