Yaakov Amidror
Yaakov AmidrorYoni Kempinski

Former National Security Council Head Yaakov Amidror at a press conference on Monday said Israel may need to destroy every attempt to build Iranian structures in Syria.

The press conference was organized by The Israel Project.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Amidror said Israel's interests must be taken into account when considering possible peace agreements in Syria. Otherwise, the IDF may need "to intervene and destroy every attempt to build [permanent Iranian] infrastructure in Syria."

Israel has diplomatic and military options to keep Iran from taking over Syria, Amidror said, and "both options should be used."

"We will not let the Iranians and Hezbollah be the forces that will win the very brutal war in Syria” and then move their focus onto Israel. At the end of the day it is our responsibility, not the responsibility of the Americans, or the Russians, to guarantee ourselves, and we will take all the measures that are needed for that," he said.

In Amidror's opinion, Israel needs to first of all "take care of its strategic goal" of "keeping Iran and Hezbollah from building launch pads in Syria." Regardless of how much Israel wants the Syrian civil war to end, "the price can't be having Iran and Hezbollah on our borders."

He also explained that the US' goal is to destroy ISIS, while Russia's goal is to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Iran's success, Amidror explained, is mostly thanks to the "Iran deal" signed in 2015, which allows Iran to develop nuclear weapons either over or under the table, and legally own them in less than fifteen years. As long as Iran at least pretends to keep to the agreement, they can take steps which will change the face of the Middle East, without worrying about the possible repercussions of renewed sanctions.

"The ability of the Iranians to do what they are doing now in Syria and Iraq, and be involved in both Syria and Iraq, and their relations with Hezbollah, it is all built on the legitimacy they gained from this [nuclear] agreement."

"The agreement is the source of all the problems. It is even more dangerous than we imagined when signed."