Netanyahu: We Are Destroying the Syrian Military Like the British Destroyed the Vichy Fleet IDF

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel is destroying what is left of the Syrian military just as the British destroyed the fleet of the defeated Vichy regime in France so the Nazis could not use it.

As Breitbart News reported earlier Tuesday, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria since dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels on Sunday. Israel wants to ensure heavy weaponry, and chemical weapons, do not fall into the rebels’ hands. It has destroyed aircraft, ships, missiles, air defenses, and a variety of other heavy weapons.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the operations that had been undertaken (original emphasis):

Within the last 48 hours, the IDF struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria, preventing them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements.

Naval Operations: Last night (Monday), Israeli Navy missile ships struck two Syrian Navy facilities simultaneously: the Al-Bayda port and the Latakia port, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked.

Targets: Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80–190 kilometers were destroyed. Each missile carried significant explosive payloads, posing threats to civilian and military maritime vessels in the area.

Hours in the Sky: Manned aircraft flew hundreds of hours over Syrian airspace, conducting over 350 aerial strikes together with fighter jets.

Targets Struck: A wide range of targets were struck, including anti-aircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields, and dozens of weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra. 

Assets Neutralized: Numerous strategic weapons were neutralized, including Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars, and more.

Ground Operations: The Northern Command’s Fire Control Center conducted air strikes on 130 assets in Syria, including weapons depots, military structures, launchers, and firing positions.

In his own statement, Netanyahu said (translated from Hebrew by the Government Press Office):

We have no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs; however, we do intend to do what is necessary for our security.

As such, I approved the Air Force bombing of strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian military so that they will not fall into the hands of the jihadists.

This is similar to what the British Air Force did when it bombed the fleet of the Vichy regime, which was cooperating with the Nazis, so that it would not fall into the Nazis’ hands.

We want to have relations with the new regime in Syria but if this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons, or weapons of any kind, to Hezbollah, or attacks us – we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price.

What happened to the previous regime will also happen to this one.

Israel’s primary concern is its own security. However, an Israeli government spokesman told Breitbart News on Monday that Israel has approached the U.S. to find ways to help minorities, such as the Kurds, who are threatened by the Syrian rebels, who are backed by Turkey and consist of a coalition that includes radical Islamist terrorists.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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