Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu spoke out Thursday afternoon, following an address by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in which the terror chief demanded Israel halt its attacks on military targets in Syria, and boasted that his group had obtained ‘precision missiles’. “I heard the arrogant comments from Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “This is coming from the same man [Nasrallah] who said after the 2006 [war] that if he would have known what Israel’s response would be to the kidnapping of our three soldiers, he would have thought twice about it.” “So today I suggest that he think not just twice but 20 times about it, because if he provokes us, he will get hit harder than he can even imagine.” On Thursday, Nasrallah spoke at a Shi’ite religious event, demanding that “Israeli aggression in Syria” be stopped, referring to the Israel Air Force strikes on weapons development centers in northern Syria earlier this week . Nasrallah also denied that he is confined to a bunker out of fear of IDF attacks. "They laugh at me and say I threaten from a shelter. Of course I'm not in a shelter. I'm in a certain place, and the fact that I'm speaking here proves that you try to kill me day and night, and only fail," Nasrallah said, but without disclosing his location. In his statement Thursday, the Prime Minister also discussed his phone call Tuesday afternoon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, regarding the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane following an Israeli airstrike in Syria. “As far as our relations with Russia – I spoke with President Putin on Yom Kippur eve, just a few minutes before the holiday began. I expressed on my behalf and on behalf of the Israeli people our sadness at the deaths of 15 Russian air crew members from the plane which was downed by Syrian fire.” “I told him that the problem is Iran’s attempt to use Syrian territory [as a base] for attacks against Israel, and to arm our enemies, like Hezbollah. I told him that we reserve the right to defend ourselves. That being said, we place great importance on the security cooperation between Israel and Russia, which is why I decided to send the Israel Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, to Moscow .”
