Special to WorldTribune.com

Israel will never allow Syria to become a base for Iran to launch attacks against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu made the statement on Sept. 29 in New York ahead of his address to the United Nations.

Earlier, Israeli Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz told Army Radio that keeping Iranian forces inside Iran would be a top priority in Israel’s discussions at the UN with the United States and other world powers.

Iran is said to be coordinating its operations in Syria with Russia. Teheran terror proxy Hizbullah has been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces for much of the four-year civil war.

Israel is concerned that Iranian and Russian forces may end up battling Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) near the Golan Heights border area. Two errant shells fired from Syria landed inside Israeli territory last week.

“No one wants to see Russian military forces in the Golan Heights. That is also cause for concern. Russia is still the second-strongest military power in the world. But we certainly don’t want to see Iranian forces right next to Israel,” Steinitz said.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said “we have no intention to give up our ability to defend our interests. And I do not suggest anyone test us….On the northern border, in Syria, there has not been calm in four years. Still, we are succeeding at keeping the threat away from the residents of the north and the Golan region.”

  Moshe Ya’alon, Netanyahu warns he will not allow use of Syria as Iran base to threaten Israel, WorldTribune.com, Yuval Steinitz