Jerusalem, Nov 11: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time admitted that Israel was behind the pager and walkie-talkie attacks on Hezbollah in September that left at least 39 people dead and more than 3,000 injured, local media reports have said.
“The pager operation and the elimination of (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defence establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon,” The Times of Israel newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Netanyahu’s remarks came during Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, according to Hebrew media reports.
Israel had so far not taken responsibility publicly for the attacks, but it was widely speculated that it was behind the complex successfully orchestrated attacks that took the world by surprise.
Thousands of pagers containing explosives exploded on their Hezbollah owners across Lebanon and parts of Syria on September 16 While the world was still absorbing the news of pager explosions, walkie-talkies met the same fate a day later on September 17, shocking the world at the level of Israeli intelligence’s preparation in its war against the Lebanese Shia militia.
Netanyahu’s statement is being interpreted in the context of his firing of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and efforts to shore up personal popularity by taking credit for war successes.
Gallant was fired from the defence minister’s position on November 5.
Netanyahu and Gallant have clashed repeatedly over the course of their time in government together. (PTI)
