Outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot has, for the first time, confirmed the massive scale of Israel’s campaign to block Iran’s attempt to establish a permanent military foothold in Syria.
Speaking in an interview on Friday with the New York Times, Eizenkot said Israel has carried out “thousands” of air strikes against Iranian military targets in Syria in the past few years.
By 2016, Eizenkot estimated, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had deployed 3,000 fighters in Syria, along with 8,000 Hezbollah fighters and another 11,000 foreign Shiite troops. Iran invested $16 billion over seven years in the effort.
In January 2017, the Israeli government gave Eizenkot the green light to make changes, and Israeli attacks became near-daily events.
In 2018 alone, Eizenkot said Israel had dropped 2,000 bombs on Iranian targets in near-daily attacks – many of which were not publicized. Israeli attacks were initially restricted to weapons shipments to Hezbollah, but later were expanded to arms depots, intelligence bases and other targets.
The commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, has made a strategic mistake in underestimating Israel’s resolve to act against Iranian interests in the region, Eizenkot said.
“His error was choosing a playground where he is relatively weak,” Eizenkot said. “We have complete intelligence superiority in this area. We enjoy complete aerial superiority. We have strong deterrence and we have the justification to act.”
Soleimani has since pulled his forces back from the Israeli border; some have been withdrawn altogether. The renewal of U.S. sanctions has also been helpful in reducing Iran’s ability to finance its regional adventures.
As a result, Eizenkot said the Iranians are now moving troops out of Syria and “transferring their efforts” to Iraq.