Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has claimed that Israel operates as al-Qaeda’s air force in the war-torn country.

Below is an excerpt from an interview between Assad and American Foreign Affairs magazine where he was asked what he believed Israels agenda was.

“They are supporting the rebels in Syria It’s very clear. Because whenever we make advances in some place, they attack in order to undermine the army. It’s very clear,” Assad told the Foreign Affairs magazine.’

“That’s why some in Syria joke, how can you say that Al-Qaeda doesn’t have an air force? They have the Israeli air force,” He added.

“We made some advances in the past two years, but if you want to ask me, ‘Is it going well?’ I say that every war is bad, because you always lose, you always have destruction in a war.

The main question is what have we won in this war? What we won in this war is that the Syrian people have rejected the terrorists, the Syrian people support their government more, the Syrian people support their army more”

The full interview: Syria’s President Speaks -A Conversation With Bashar al-Assad