During the graduation ceremony of the IAF’s newest pilots, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke about the Iranian threat as well as the continuing attacks from the Gaza Strip and the Air Force’s involvement in deterring both of these threats.

“Last month I participated in a meeting of many air force commanders from around the world. It was air-force diplomacy at its best and I was pleased to hear a lot of praise being given to the Israeli Air Force for its prowess and professionalism. Everyone knows that we are the major force in the Middle East and therefore they were willing to share a lot of sensitive information with us.

When Israel was founded, our enemies attacked from all sides. During the first few days Tel Aviv was bombed. During the conflict, we purchased planes that stopped that attack and prevented the dividing of the Sharon region.

As we progressed, the IAF has garnered experience, expertise and legendary victories. Since then, we have strengthened ourselves in every possible way. It costs us a lot of money, but it is worth every pruta. The IAF is stronger now than it has ever been before. We fill it with the best of our people. In the congested skies of the Middle East, Israel’s Air Force succeeds with a overpowering strength that is known by no other in the region and beyond. This is the shining example of the work of generations upon generations of our people who labored tirelessly to return control of our destiny to our hands.

We are surrounded by threats. Iran and its subsidiaries are not going away. Iran continues to express its desire to destroy us. I will clarify that we will not allow Iran to make Syria into its base of operations in order to attack us from there.

At the beginning, we stood alone. But since President Trump’s historic decision, the pendulum has swung and we have been able to stop Iran from fulfilling its plans thus far and the Iranian people are sensing that. Many in Iran understand that their government is wasting incredible resources outside of the country instead of worrying about its own citizens. The direction is clear. The Iranian cash machine that has facilitated its aggressive behavior is now broken. Our Air Force will continue to destroy targets in our vicinity and will continue to act in areas near and far in open and secret combat against any threats to our state.

Whoever tries to drag us into a conflict will be sorry for doing so. Very sorry. The IAF has a decisive part in this.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)