Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday (December 9) that Israel was taking measures to head off any threat that could emerge in the fallout of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.
Israel has watched the upheaval in Syria with a mixture of hope and concern as it weighs the consequences of one of the most significant strategic shifts in the Middle East in years.
"We are taking all the actions necessary to try to ensure our security with regard to the new situation in Syria," Netanyahu told reporters in a late-night press conference at his office without going into detail.
While Assad's fall wiped out a bastion from which Israel's arch-foe Iran had exercised influence in the region, the lightning advance of a disparate group of rebel forces with roots in the Islamist ideology of Al Qaeda poses risks.
"I instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to seize the buffer zone between us and Syria and the positions controlling and adjacent to it. This also includes the summit of Hermon, what is called the Syrian Hermon," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also said that Hamas' increasing isolation following the collapse of Assa'd rule potentially opened the door to a hostage deal but it was too early to say efforts would succeed.
#israel #syria #syrianews #basharalassad #syriacivilwar #netanyahu
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