Yaalon: ’Israel’ to React Forcefully to Any Threat

Local Editor

"Israel" will respond forcefully to attempts to threaten its security, War Minister Moshe Yaalon warned on Tuesday, after it shot down a Syrian warplane over the Golan Heights.

"This morning, the "Israeli" fighters managing the air defense systems brought down a Syrian fighter plane which approached Israel's sovereign territory on the Golan in a threatening manner, and even crossed the frontier," Yaalon said in a statement.

"Israel" occupied 1,200 square kilometers of the Golan from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967, then annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.
"We will not allow anyone, whether it is a state actor or a terror organization, to threaten our security and breach our sovereignty," Yaalon said.

He further stated: "We will respond forcefully against any such attempt, whether it is an error or intentional."
Brigadier General Ram Shmueli, former head of the air force's intelligence unit, said the incident was likely caused by pilot error.

"We believe [the pilot's] mission was to attack enemy forces - not ours - in the Syrian Golan Heights," he said in a telephone briefing.
"Unfortunately it crossed the border and we cannot tolerate any kind of penetration into "Israeli" airspace."

"Israeli" Army radio said it was apparently a MiG-21 fighter jet which was shot down by a surface-to-air Patriot missile, with the wreckage landing on the Syrian-controlled side of the plateau.

It was the first time "Israel" had shot down a Syrian aircraft since 1985, he said.

Tuesday's development was the most serious incident to take place on the strategic plateau since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team