Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he is "unimpressed" by belligerent language from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accusing Israel of violating international law.
"I heard today the remarks of the Iranian foreign minister, who accused Israel of violating international law. This is the foreign minister of a country that sends armed UAVs against Israel and missiles at Saudi Arabia.
"I also heard his moderate remarks and there is a tremendous gap between his words and the actions of the Revolutionary Guards, which are moving an army against Israel with the avowed goal of destroying the State of Israel," Netanyahu said at an Independence Day toast to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and the General Staff Forum.
Zarif said in a U.S. television interview that further Israeli sorties in Syria would have "consequences." But he deemed major escalation as unlikely.
"I do not believe that we are headed towards regional war but I do believe that unfortunately, Israel has continued its violations with international law, hoping to be able to do it with impunity because of the U.S. support and trying to find smokescreens to hide behind," Zarif told CBS News.
"The easiest answer would be to stop – to stop these acts of aggression, to stop these incursions."
Netanyahu said Sunday, "I am not impressed by words. I rely on this forum and on the Israel Defense Forces, which are prepared for any possibility and any scenario."
Although Israel and Iran appeared on Sunday to be playing down the possibility of clashes in Syria spilling over into a war, hostilities between the two countries have been running high ever since Feb. 10, when Israel said an armed Iranian drone launched from the T4 base in Syria had penetrated its territory. Israel downed the drone and, during a reprisal raid, lost an F-16 jet to Syrian ground fire.
On April 9, an airstrike on the T4 base killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members. Tehran blamed Israel and vowed unspecified retaliation, drawing Israeli counterthreats to broaden attacks on Iranian military assets in Syria.
Iran, Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Russia have been reinforcing Damascus against the seven-year Syrian rebellion. The Israelis worry that Iran's garrison will remain, linking with Hezbollah to form a broad Syrian-Lebanese front against them.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman reiterated his government's policy of preventing Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
"No matter the price, we will not allow a noose to form around us," Lieberman told Israel Radio in an interview.
But asked if that meant war was imminent, he said: "I hope not. I think that our primary role is to prevent war, and that requires concrete, real deterrence as well as readiness to act."
Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz suggested that world powers might intervene to curb Iranian activity in Syria.
Israel is "not interested" in escalation, Katz told the Ynet news site. But Israeli power-projection, he said, "can challenge the Iranians, can clarify to the Russians, who seek stability, that it is worth it for them to apply their influence, and the same goes for the United States, for France and all the others."
The Syria faceoff comes as the Trump administration mulls reimposing economic sanctions against Tehran by May 12, a move that could deal a blow to an international 2015 deal under which the Iranians capped their nuclear projects.
Zarif said Iran might respond to any unraveling of the deal by "resuming at a much greater speed our nuclear activities."
Israel has savaged the deal and encouraged a U.S. review, but Katz appeared to acknowledge the outcome could be costly.
"The United States is changing policy. Israel is determined to prevent this [Iranian nuclear] red line, a crossing of this red line," he said.
"These are testing times for us. I hope that we won't pay prices."
