Ex-IDF Chief Eisenkot Details Syria Strike Decision Made Without Netanyahu

Former IDF Chief of Staff and "Yashar" party leader Gadi Eisenkot revealed that he independently ordered a large-scale retaliatory strike against Syria in February 2018. The decision was made because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unreachable for several hours during a critical incident. The crisis began on February 10, 2018, when an Iranian drone launched from Syria's T-4 airbase crossed into Israeli airspace and was shot down by an Apache helicopter. The Israeli Air Force then struck the drone's control center on the same base. Syrian air defenses responded by firing anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli aircraft, with one missile, likely an S-200, hitting an F-16I "Sufa." The crew ejected, and the F-16 crashed in northern Israel, with the pilot sustaining serious injuries and the navigator minor ones.

Eisenkot stated that he, along with the head of Military Intelligence and the Air Force commander, decided to launch a significant strike to neutralize Syrian air defense batteries. However, he was unable to contact Prime Minister Netanyahu for one to two hours to inform him and seek his input. Eisenkot recounted that his military secretary informed him that Netanyahu was unavailable and advised him to proceed as he saw fit. Eisenkot then authorized the extensive operation against Syrian air defense and Iranian targets in Syria.

After several hours, Netanyahu arrived at the Air Force's operational headquarters and, according to Eisenkot, supported the decisions already made. However, Netanyahu halted further escalation of the operation just before preparations for another major strike were to commence. Eisenkot's revelations come after previous statements where he accused Netanyahu's associates of spreading conspiracy theories about the October 7th events to justify perceived failures.