Thursday, September 20, 2007

Israel did launch an air strike on Syria

Jerusalem, Israel (AHN)-After weeks of refusing to confirm the operation, former Israeli prime minister and Likud opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel launched an air strike against Syria on September 6.

Speaking on Israeli TV, Netanyahu said he gave current prime minister Ehud Olmert his backing on the Syrian raid, but refused to go into detail on the air attack.

"When a prime minister does something that is important in my view and necessary to Israel's security... I give my backing. And here, too, I was a partner in the issue from the start, and I gave my backing" Netanyahu told Channel 1 news.

Although Netanyahu refused to go into details about the Israeli strike, earlier reports speculated that the Israeli F-15 jets targeted a factory in northern Syria where North Korean nuclear material was stored. Other "leaked" reports have said the Sept. 6 attack was to send a message to Damascus to stop supporting the terrorist group Hezbollah, which Israel battled in a brief war last year.

Israel and Syria have technically been at war since peace talks broke down in 2000, with tensions between the two counties rising in recent months. While, Syria insists that peace talks are contingent upon Israel returning the Golan Heights, which it seized in 1967, Israel maintains that Syria first abandon its support for Lebanese and Palestinian terrorist groups before talks can resume.



Update 9/22: Bryan of Why Now? has more on the event and links.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is what is known as a violation of the national security laws of the state of Israel. The official position was "no comment" to avoid questions but Bibi can't keep his mouth shut.

Without official comment if things got hot, pilots could be blamed for exceeding their instructions [nod,nod wink,wink].

These neocon/likudniks are really strong on security. /snark

ellroon said...

I find it fascinating that both Israel and Syria were being tight-lipped about the whole thing.

The whole Middle East is like a massive ball of string, isn't it, wound in such a tangled snarl that it will never come out straight.

I've got so much to learn.