After Israel reveals strike, intel minister warns: It was Syria in 2007, it could be Iran now
Israel's intelligence minister said that the operation to destroy Syria's nuclear reactor in 2007,
which was cleared for publication on Wednesday, shows Israel will not
allow "those threatening our existence to have nuclear weapons. Syria
then and Iran today."
In
a tweet, Yisrael Katz said he saluted then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
for destroying the Syrian reactor 11 years ago. "When all accounts are
settled, destroying the reactor will stand in Olmert's benefit," he
wrote, referencing the fact that Olmert stepped down from his leadership
role as part of a corruption scandal for which he went on to serve jail
time.
No longer a secret: How Israel destroyed Syria's nuclear reactor ■ Ten years of silence on Syria strike. Why now? ■ The real fallout from the strike ■ The intelligence failure: It took years for Israel to discover the reactor ■ Israeli strike on Syrian nuclear reactor: Battle of the memoirs
No longer a secret: How Israel destroyed Syria's nuclear reactor ■ Ten years of silence on Syria strike. Why now? ■ The real fallout from the strike ■ The intelligence failure: It took years for Israel to discover the reactor ■ Israeli strike on Syrian nuclear reactor: Battle of the memoirs
Israel for the first time confirmed that it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. The first public acknowledgement by Israel that its F-16 and F-15 warplanes carried out the September 6, 2007, bombing of the partially constructed Al-Kubar facility near Deir al-Zor was made after military censors lifted a more than 10-year order that had barred Israeli officials from discussing it.
The
strike had already been extensively reported on abroad, and discussed
by U.S. officials. Israel, however, kept quiet to avoid provoking Syrian
reprisals and a possible regional war.
The Israeli military released newly declassified
operational footage, photographs and intelligence documents about the
bombing and detailing the intelligence operation that led up to it.
Israel
concluded that the reactor had been under construction with North
Korean help and was months away from activation. Reuters has been unable
to immediately verify the Israeli material.
Israel's
decision to go public comes after repeated calls in recent months by
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States and
international community to take tougher action on Syria's ally, Iran.
"The motivation of our enemies has grown in
recent years, but so too the might of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces),"
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday.
"Everyone in the Middle East would do well to internalize this equation," he said.
The
Israeli military described in detail the events leading up to the night
of September 5 to September 6, 2007, in which, it said, eight warplanes
took off from the Ramon and Hatzerim air bases and flew to Deir al-Zor
region, 450 km northwest of Damascus, Syria, and dropped 18 tons of
munitions.
The operation was launched after it received
intelligence indicating that "a substantial threat to Israel and the
region, in the form of a nuclear reactor, was being built in Syria".
Reuters contributed background to this story
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