Israeli Defense Minister Welcomes Rouhani's Remarks on Regional Calm; 'If Real, It's Important'

Two days after extensive attacks on fifty targets in Syria, which Israel claims belong to the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's remarks about regional calm are 'important if they are real.' According to Israeli media, Lieberman expressed hope during a visit to settlements in the Golan Heights on Friday, May 10, that Rouhani's 'message' is genuine. Lieberman added that Israel is not seeking a crisis with anyone. The Israeli Defense Minister's comments refer to Rouhani's statements during a phone conversation on Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, where Rouhani stated that 'the region does not need new tensions' and that Iran has 'always strived for peace and to strengthen security and stability.' Iranian media reported that Merkel attributed the rocket attacks from Syria to the Golan Heights on Thursday morning to Iran and urged Iran not to escalate tensions. This phone call occurred two days after the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran. Israel claims that the Quds Force launched twenty rockets from Syria towards the Israeli border, with the Israeli military stating that sixteen rockets landed in Syria and four were intercepted by Israeli defense systems. In response, Israel bombed multiple targets in Syria and also shelled from the ground. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the military operation in Syria as 'very extensive' and stated that Iran had 'crossed a red line,' adding that Israel would respond 'a hundred times more severely' to any aggression, urging Syria not to endanger itself further. The Syrian military command, however, issued a statement on Thursday without mentioning who carried out the rocket attacks on Israel, only referring to 'further aggressions by the enemy' and the killing of three individuals along with some damage from Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists that the rocket attacks on Thursday were carried out from Syria. Bahram Qasemi, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, stated on Friday that the Israeli attacks were 'based on fabricated and baseless pretexts' and that 'retaliatory defense' is Syria's right. Nevertheless, the Israeli Defense Minister stated on Friday at the Syrian border that Israel has only one message for Bashar al-Assad: to remove Iranian forces and the Quds Force led by Qassem Soleimani from Syria, as their presence only causes harm, and that life could be different without them. Lieberman also mentioned that the crisis is not over and that 'his country has its finger on the pulse and is assessing the situation.' The Israeli Defense Minister referred to the discussions on Wednesday between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, noting that there are not many countries that negotiate with both the White House and the Kremlin, but Israel has that capability. Netanyahu stated after the talks with Putin that 'there is no reason to think that Russia would act against Israel's interests and limit Israel's freedom of action in Syria.' The latest Israeli attacks in Syria began less than two hours after Netanyahu returned from his trip to Moscow. Meanwhile, according to Euronews, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for dialogue between Iran and Israel during a meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, who was visiting Moscow. Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, also called for calm during separate meetings with Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, and Eitan Ben David, Deputy Secretary of the Israeli National Security Council, two weeks ago at the Sochi security summit. At the same time, Vladimir Kozhin, military and technical advisor to the Russian President, stated that there are no negotiations underway for the delivery of S-300 defense systems to Syria. According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia on Friday, Kozhin stated that the Syrian army currently has all the necessary capabilities for self-defense. The Israeli Defense Minister had previously stated that if the Russian S-300 systems are used against Israel after being delivered to Syria, Israel would target them as well.