Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in his offices in Jerusalem on June 10, 2018. (AFP photo)
JERUSALEM, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that European leaders have agreed that Iran should be pushed out of Syria and accepted Israel's airstrikes against Iranian sites in Syria.
Netanyahu said the new understandings were achieved during his three-day tour to Europe last week, during which he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
"The leaders agreed with the main goal that I set, and this is formulating a broad international agreement that Iran needs to leave Syria, from all of Syria," Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
He added that Iran might not be pushed out of Syrian soon. "Even though Iran's departure from Syria is a long process, I believe that if you set a goal, if you know where you are going, you have a greater chance of getting there," he said.
In his meetings, Netanyahu told the leaders that Israel will take strong action against attempts to establish an Iranian presence in Syria. "I think that this is understood and accepted by these leaders," he said.
Israel has been carrying out dozens of airstrikes in the war-torn country over the past years, saying they were aimed at Iranian sites or weapons delivery to Israel's arch-foe, the Iran-backed militia of Hezbollah.