Benjamin Netanyahu threatens more Israeli strikes on Syria
Benjamin Netanyahu raised the prospect of further Israeli strikes on Syria today, amid claims that Bashar al-Assad's regime has installed high-tech weapons aimed at hitting Tel Aviv.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: AP
8:20PM BST 19 May 2013
The Israeli prime minister said his government would act "with
determination" to prevent arms being transferred from Syria to
Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia group, which last week claimed it would soon
acquire "game changing" weapons to attack Israel.
"The government of Israel is working responsibly and with determination
and sagacity, in order to ensure the supreme interest of the State of
Israel... to... prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hizbollah and to
[other] terrorist elements," Mr Netanyahu said at the beginning of the
weekly cabinet meeting. "We will work to ensure Israelis' security
interest in the future as well."
The Israeli air force is widely assumed to have been responsible for two raids
this month that targeted weapons stocks in Syria supposedly destined for
Hizbollah..
Mr Netanyahu said the Middle East was in the midst of "one of its most
sensitive periods in decades with the escalating upheaval in Syria at its
centre".
His remarks coincided with a newspaper report that President Bashar al-Assad
of Syria had put surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles, the country's most
advances weapons, on stand-by with orders to strike Tel Aviv in the event of
a further Israeli raid.
The Sunday Times reported that the missiles - which can carry a half-ton pay
load - had been monitored by Israeli reconnaissance satellites.
Mr Assad, who has vowed to retaliate against the previous attacks, accused Israel of using armed rebels fighting to topple his regime to conduct an attack inside Syria that paved the way for the subsequent Israeli air raids.
"Israel is directly supporting the terrorist groups in two ways, firstly it gives them logistical support and it also tells them what sites to attack and how to attack them," he told the Argentine newspaper, Clarin. "For example, they attacked a radar station that is part of our anti-aircraft defences, which can detect any plane coming from overseas, especially from Israel."
The threats and counter-threats came amid conflicting reports about whether Israeli officials think Israel's interests might be best served if Mr Assad's regime survived the two-year insurgency against it.
A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces denied suggestions that the country's security establishment wants to see Mr Assad stay in power to prevent a jihadist takeover of Syria.
Security officials are said to have revised earlier assessments that his government was on the verge of crumbling, saying they under-estimated its ability to survive.
Mr Assad, who has vowed to retaliate against the previous attacks, accused Israel of using armed rebels fighting to topple his regime to conduct an attack inside Syria that paved the way for the subsequent Israeli air raids.
"Israel is directly supporting the terrorist groups in two ways, firstly it gives them logistical support and it also tells them what sites to attack and how to attack them," he told the Argentine newspaper, Clarin. "For example, they attacked a radar station that is part of our anti-aircraft defences, which can detect any plane coming from overseas, especially from Israel."
The threats and counter-threats came amid conflicting reports about whether Israeli officials think Israel's interests might be best served if Mr Assad's regime survived the two-year insurgency against it.
A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces denied suggestions that the country's security establishment wants to see Mr Assad stay in power to prevent a jihadist takeover of Syria.
Security officials are said to have revised earlier assessments that his government was on the verge of crumbling, saying they under-estimated its ability to survive.
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