​(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Thursday, 20 September 2018), made the following remarks:
 
"I heard the arrogant words that came from the direction of Hezbollah. This comes from the same man who said after 2006 that if he had known what Israel's response would be to the abduction of three of our soldiers, he would have thought twice about doing it.
 
Then today I suggest that he think not twice but 20 times because if he confronts us he will receive a crushing blow that he cannot even imagine.
 
Regarding our relations with Russia, I spoke with President Putin on the eve of Yom Kippur, right before the start of the holy day. I expressed my regret and that of the citizens of Israel over the deaths of the 15 Russian air crew members, whose plane was brought down by Syrian fire.
 
I told him that the root of the problem is Iran's attempt to use Syrian territory for attacks against Israel and to arm our enemies, such as Hezbollah. I told him that we have the right of self-defense. There is also very great importance to maintaining the security coordination between Israel and Russia; therefore, I decided to send GOC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin to Moscow with a double objective. One, to continue defending our citizens, and two, to preserve the cooperation between our two countries."