After Israel bombs Syria, Netanyahu vows: 'We strike those who strike us'

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, the prime minister said that the targets hit belonged to Syrian elements who not only allowed the attack to take place, but assisted in it.

By HERB KEINON
Netanyahu at Negev Conference (photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
Netanyahu at Negev Conference
(photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
 
It is periodically necessary for Israel to take "aggressive action" so that the quiet in the north will be maintained, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday just hours after the IAF hit targets in Syria in response to Tuesday's attack on an IDF jeep on the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu, speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting that was postponed from Sunday because of Purim, said that the targets hit belonged to Syrian elements who not only allowed the attack to take place, but assisted in it.
"Our policy is very clear," he said. "We strike those who strike us."
Netanyahu also said that Israel, to the best of its ability, consistently thwarts the transfer of weapons.
This policy, he said, has resulted in a situation where over the last year, and indeed over the last five years since he has been in power, the level of terrorism has been low.
“Last year it was the lowest level in a decade, both in the number of fatalities and in the firing of missiles and rockets," he said. "From time to time it is necessary to take aggressive action, as we are doing now, to ensure that the quiet continues."
Netanyahu said this policy was responsible for that fact that Israel is the most secure and stable country in a roiling Middle East.