|
Trending Topics
|
Iran's Entrenchment in Syria Set Back Months after Most Extensive Israeli Strike in Decades
(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - On Wednesday night, Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force executed its retaliation plan for the death of seven Iranians when the T-4 air base in Syria was bombed on April 9. Four of its missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system and the rest fell in Syrian territory. The Israeli reaction was disproportionate: massive bombing of 50 Iranian targets in Syria, which probably set back Iran's effort to establish a military presence there by several months. Israel has acted in Syria exactly as it said it would. For months, the prime minister, defense minister and IDF chief of staff have been saying that Iran establishing a military presence in Syria was something Israel couldn't live with and would take forceful action to prevent. In April, right after the raid on the Iranian T-4 air base, military sources hinted that the IDF could eradicate Iran's military presence in Syria if Iran insisted on retaliating. The Thursday morning attack did so, even if the airstrikes focused on infrastructure and logistics sites, rather than trying to kill as many Iranian fighters as possible.