Netanyahu says Israel prepared to defend citizens as UN patrols continue at Golan Heights

• published: 31 Jul 2015
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Quneitra Crossing, Israeli-controlled Golan Heights 1. Wide of border post 2. Wide of gate to United Nations camp 3. Mid of UN camp sign 4. Wide of UN camp entrance with UN vehicle in background 5. Mid of UN watchtower 6. Mid of UN staff checking UN car 7. Close-up of UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) sign 8. Wide of Quneitra Crossing with cars driving along road Jerusalem 9. Wide of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walking into parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence committee 10. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister: "What guides us is first to protect our citizens' safety. We are prepared for any scenario and the most basic principle is that whoever threatens to harm us or harms Israeli citizens will be harmed." 11. Mid of committee meeting 12. Wide of Israeli Minister for International Relations and Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz during news conference 13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yuval Steinitz, Israeli Minister for International Relations and Strategic Affairs: "We don't want to get involved and I think especially the interest of the regime of Bashar Assad, that we won't get involved. It's also in his interest, not to provoke us." 14. Wide of Steinitz STORYLINE: Israel's prime minister on Monday said that Israel was prepared to defend its citizens, amid ongoing tension at the country's border with Syria. "We are prepared for any scenario and the most basic principle is that whoever threatens to harm us or harms Israeli citizens will be harmed," Benjamin Netanyahu told the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence committee in Jerusalem. Netanyahu was making the remarks in reference to both Syria and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. His remarks come days after Austria announced it would pull its troops from the United Nations peacekeeping force tasked with maintaining calm between the Israel and Syria frontier. Austria announced the pullout after rebels briefly overran a border crossing in the Golan Heights last week. The pullout is expected to take place within a month. Israel and Syria agreed to the creation of the UN Disengagement Observer Force after Syria launched military action in 1973 in a failed effort to retake the Golan, which Israel captured in the 1967 war. Israel fears that Islamic militants who have joined the rebel ranks in trying to oust President Bashar Assad will turn their guns toward Israel if they topple the Syrian leader. Islamic groups are believed to be active in the fighting in the Golan area. Hezbollah too has taken an increasingly prominent role, helping Assad's troops capture the border town of Qusair. Israel has also expressed concerns that Assad's sophisticated weapons, could slip into the hands of hostile groups, including Hezbollah. The Jewish state has kept a wary eye on the fighting next door since the conflict erupted in March 2011 and in recent months has been bolstering its forces in the area and reinforcing a fence along the frontier. Israeli officials say they have no interest in taking sides or getting involved in the fighting. Israeli Minister for International Relations and Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz reiterated Israel's intention to stay out of the conflict in Syria but warned Assad not to provoke Israel. "We don't want to get involved and I think especially the interest of the regime of Bashar Assad, that we won't get involved. It's also in his interest, not to provoke us," he said in Jerusalem. The Israeli military has intervened on several occasions, firing at targets inside Syria in response to shelling that landed in the Israeli-side of the Golan. In one such incident last month, Syrian troops targeted an Israeli jeep they said had crossed the cease-fire line into the Syria-controlled sector. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/904047750b51a2653c44da8318672fc7 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork