Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel had sent a message to Turkey warning it against establishing a military base in Syria, in an implicit admission of an Israeli air raid on a Syrian air base in the north of the country on Tuesday.
In an interview via a podcast on Israeli Army Radio, Netanyahu said that Israel had warned Turkey against establishing a base in Syria, adding: “Apparently they didn’t hear it, so we made sure they understood it more clearly.”
In this context, three informed sources said that the head of the Israeli Mossad, Roman Gofman, held a telephone conversation on August 14 with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, during which they discussed the Turkish military presence in Syria.
According to the sources, the call came days before Israel launched airstrikes on a Syrian military airbase in the north of the country on Tuesday.
The contact represents one of the highest levels of communication to date between Israel and the new Syrian government since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2014.
Israeli opposition to the attack
In contrast, Israeli Democratic Party leader Yair Golan described the Israeli attack in Syria on Wednesday as a “provocative and dangerous step,” arguing that it deepens the rift with Israel’s allies, foremost among them the United States.
Golan said in a statement published on the “X” platform that “military force is once again being used for political motives,” adding that Israel “is paying the price in terms of security.”
He added that the attack “brings Israel closer to a confrontation with Türkiye, and deepens the rift with its allies, foremost among them the United States.”
Golan accused Netanyahu of being an “extremist and unreliable actor” who cannot be trusted or with whom “a stable regional movement can be built,” noting that the Israeli prime minister “undermines trust in Israel and alienates partners and allies.”
Golan said that Israel “needs leadership that knows how to use force to achieve security, not to start another war for political survival.”
The Israeli attack and the Syrian position
On Tuesday morning, Israeli aircraft launched eight airstrikes targeting the runway of the abandoned Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib, resulting in material damage to its infrastructure.
Following this, Syria, in two identical letters addressed to the United Nations and the Security Council, said that the continuation of Israeli attacks, including bombings, incursions, and kidnappings, “obstructs stabilization efforts and threatens the region with further tension.”
In the two letters, Syria affirmed its “firm position calling for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks, and obligating Israel to implement the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, and to withdraw completely from the territories it invaded after December 8, 2024, and from the occupied Syrian Golan.”
Prior to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel was launching attacks on Syria targeting sites of pro-Iranian forces.
Following the fall of the regime on December 8, 2024, Israel expanded the scope of its attacks to include weapons and missile depots and strategic military sites throughout Syria.
The Israeli Prime Minister's office, which handles inquiries related to Mossad, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for al-Shibani.
