(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Tuesday, 18 February 2014), toured the Golan Heights* along with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon and IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz. GOC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan briefed the Prime Minister – at a point that overlooks the Syrian border – on the presence of Global Jihad elements in Syria and on the work to fortify the border fence.

During his tour, Prime Minister Netanyahu also visited the base where people who have been wounded in the fighting in Syria are being treated and said:

"On the day when talks between the major powers and Iran are being opened in Vienna, it is important that the world sees the pictures from this place, which divides the good that is in the world from the bad.

The good part is that Israel is saving the lives of those who have been wounded in the daily slaughter that is being perpetrated in Syria. This is the true face of Israel.

The bad part is that Iran is arming those who are carrying out the slaughter. This is the true face of Iran. All of the children who have been injured, to say nothing of those who have been killed, were injured as a result of Iran's arming, financing and training the Assad regime in the massacres that it is perpetrating.

From here, I would like to tell the world, today, as the talks between the major powers and Iran are being resumed, that Iran has changed neither its aggressive policy nor its brutal character. Iran is continuing to support the Assad regime which is slaughtering its own people. This is the true face of Iran. The world cannot forget this."