Avigdor Liberman: Syria fighting will be over soon, Hezbollah will turn its sights on Israel
Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman warned Monday that comments made by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah over the weekend suggest that the organization intends to set its sights on Israel as soon as it extricates itself from fighting in Syria’s civil war.
During a rare public appearance in Beirut to mark the Shi’ite Ashura holy day, Nasrallah attacked both Israel and the US, saying that Hezbollah has fought Israel in the past and will continue to do so. “Anyone who thinks that we will retreat or give up- that won’t happen. We will win,” he vowed.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, Liberman said that he was “very concerned” by Nasrallah’s comments.
“For those who did not understand the meaning of what Nasrallah said, it was: ‘We are almost finished in Syria, and we will then be free to deal with you,'” Liberman warned.
Liberman estimated that world powers would make an agreement to end the war in Syria within a year, freeing up Hezbollah from the fighting it has been entrenched in defending the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad for the past four years.
“We need to take Nasrallah’s comments seriously. Because what he said is, ‘We and the Iranians will take care of you, just let us finish our work in Syria,'” Liberman said.
He attacked the government’s handling of security threats, and expressed doubt that it would be able to handle an added threat from an engaged Hezbollah.
“I think that a government that has exhibited helplessness against Hamas in Gaza and against the wave of terror in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem is a government that is unable to handle the threats and unable to deal with Hezbollah and the dangers that it poses. Therefore there is room for concern,” he said.
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