JERUSALEM, Dec 26 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israeli military chief, said, Israel “carried out actions” in Iraq, to foil convoys of weapons that could be used against Israel.
Aviv Kohavi made the rare acknowledgement, during a speech in a conference, in the Interdisciplinary Centre, Herzliya, a private research college outside Tel Aviv.
Kohavi told the conference that Iranian weapons “are being transferred freely from Iraq” and “we cannot let it go on without addressing it.”
It was the first time an Israeli official admitted, Israel has attacked sites in Iraq. Israel has been accused of carrying out a series of airstrikes in Iraq, since July.
The United States confirmed that Israel was behind at least one of these strikes, which targeted an Iranian weapons depot, but Israel has never officially commented on the issue.
Kohavi identified efforts by Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, as a major threat to Israel. The Israeli army is concerned by the presence of the Quds Force, Iran’s overseas elite, and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese group, in Syria.
Hezbollah, according to Israeli intelligence, recently acquired precision missiles that could target Israel.
Kohavi said that shipments of Iranian-made weapons also arrived to militants in the Gaza Strip.
Iran produces “hundreds” of missiles that could reach Israel, Kohavi said, adding, “Iran’s military industry is larger than all of the Israeli security industries.”
Kohavi sent a warning to Iran, vowing not to let Iranian military presence in Syria, even in the cost of a military escalation. “There is a possibility that we will face a confrontation with Iran. We are preparing for it but not encouraging it,” he said.
Israel and Iran have an ongoing shadow war in Syria, with Israel carrying out “hundreds” of airstrikes in Syria, against Iranian targets and weapons convoyed to Hezbollah.– NNN-MA’AN