Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) toured the northern border with the heads of the local councils on the Golan Heights Thursday.
At a special observation point overlooking the Quneitra area of Syria, Deri received a briefing on the tense area from which the rockets were fired at Israel.
In a conversation with journalists, Deri referred to the Israeli attack on Syria this evening, saying, "You see the valley below, it reflects what our people want, that our country wants. We want to live here in peace, we have no desire for war or conflict. We do not want war."
"We do not want to conquer other people's territories. All we want is one thing: we will not allow the Iranians to establish themselves in Syria. We do not want the Golan to be the target of Hezbollah and Nasrallah," Deri added.
"Therefore, we are determined and firm on this matter," the Shas chairman stressed. "Any attempt by the Iranians to establish themselves in Syria, while their goal is clearly to threaten Israel, to attack it later, we will not and I will not elaborate."
Deri added, "You have seen them in recent days, let alone yesterday, when they crossed the red line and fired at the civilian communities toward the Golan Heights. They received a blow whose size in my opinion they still do not understand. It would take them a few more days or a few more hours to see and absorb everything that had happened there. We have no interest in them reacting and we will respond, we want it to end here."
"But at the same time I told the heads of the councils that I met today: The good defense is to ensure that the Iranians are not here, they have nothing to do in Syria.
"All the more so if they attack us or try to harm our civilians or our soldiers. We turned to everyone who had to turn, including the prime minister who turned, and we also conveyed clear messages to President Assad and said: Send the Iranians away, they are harming you, the Syrian people. We have no interest in the overthrow of the regime or the maintenance of power. That is an internal matter for them and Russia. But if they attack us, the biggest loser will be Assad."