Netanyahu accidentally discloses Israeli airstrikes in Syria

It has never been a particularly well-kept secret that Israel has conducted clandestine airstrikes in Syrian territory over recent years. But this week, Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to not only admit that these strikes had occurred, but that they had occurred “dozens” of times.

The Israeli prime minister made this admission accidentally — all thanks to a hot mic.

Netanyahu’s remarks came during a meeting with Eastern European leaders in Budapest on Wednesday. Although the meeting occurred behind closed doors, the Israeli leader’s microphone remained on and his voice was transmitted to headphones given to reporters earlier.

Speaking to the leaders of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, Netanyahu said Israel had specifically targeted Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah in Syria, where Hezbollah is helping bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces in the ongoing civil war.

“We blocked the border not only in Egypt but in the Golan Heights,” he said, according to an account from Haaretz newspaper.

“We built the wall because there was a problem with ISIS and Iran trying to build a terror front there. I told [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, when we see them transferring weapons to Hezbollah, we will hurt them. We did it dozens of times,” he said. ISIS is an alternative acronym for the Islamic State militant group.

It’s not quite the first time that Israel has acknowledged carrying out military actions in Syria. In late June, Israel announced that it had struck three Syrian army targets in the Golan Heights after errant fire landed in Israeli-controlled territory.

In April, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that an Israeli airstrike had hit buildings being used to store weapons for Hezbollah near Damascus International Airport. That evening, Israel said it was forced to deploy its Patriot missile defense system to intercept an incoming projectile from Syria — an apparent attempt at retaliation.