Regional
tensions peak • National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror: Israel will
prevent anti-aircraft missile battery from becoming operational in Syria
• Assad: We have already received first S-300 shipment and will
retaliate against next Israeli strike.
National Security Adviser
Yaakov Amidror
|
Photo credit: Dudi Vaknin |
Israel will prevent the S-300 anti-aircraft
missile battery from becoming operational in Syria, National Security
Adviser Yaakov Amidror told European Union ambassadors in Israel.
Amidror's strong message, delivered in a
briefing to all 27 EU ambassadors last week, bolstered Defense Minister
Moshe Ya'alon's statement earlier this week that Israel would "know how
to act" if Russia goes ahead with its plan to provide Syria with the
S-300 system.
Israel's vow to act against the fearsome
weapons system come as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was quoted on
Thursday as saying that his country had already received the first
shipment of the S-300 system from Russia.
"Syria has received the first shipment of
Russian anti-aircraft S-300 rockets," the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar
quoted Assad as saying in an interview due to be broadcast later in the
day. "The rest of the shipment will arrive soon."
The Prime Minister's Office declined official comment on Amidror's statement to the EU ambassadors.
Earlier this week, Strategic Affairs Minister
Yuval Steinitz said Israel viewed the S-300 as an offensive weapon,
given that its 200-kilometer (125-mile) range would threaten Israel Air
Force planes within Israeli airspace, undermining Israel's aerial
superiority in the region. Steinitz also said the S-300 would endanger
commercial aircraft flying in and out of Ben-Gurion International
Airport near Tel Aviv.
Steinitz met with Russian ambassador to Israel Segei Yakovlev on Thursday morning. According to Steinitz's office, they discussed bilateral matters and strategic issues. It was not immediately clear if the Steinitz-Yakovlev meeting was directly related to Assad's annoucement that he had already received the weapons system.
Steinitz met with Russian ambassador to Israel Segei Yakovlev on Thursday morning. According to Steinitz's office, they discussed bilateral matters and strategic issues. It was not immediately clear if the Steinitz-Yakovlev meeting was directly related to Assad's annoucement that he had already received the weapons system.
According to an Israeli diplomatic official,
Amidror delivered his message during a discussion he had with EU
ambassadors to clarify Israel's positions on numerous matters and
provide a situational assessment from the point of view of the Prime
Minister's Office. Such discussions are held periodically.
Amidror's statement about the S-300 system
came as he talked about Israel's efforts to prevent security
deterioration in the region in light of the civil war in Syria and
Russia's declaration that it would fulfill a contract to provide the
Assad regime with the S-300 system.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki on Wednesday reiterated Israel's right to defend itself.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki on Wednesday reiterated Israel's right to defend itself.
In an interview that was set to be released by
the Hezbollah-linked al-Manar television station on Thursday, Assad
reportedly stressed ties between his forces and Hezbollah fighters now
openly operating on the Syrian side of the Lebanese-Syrian border.
"Syria and Hezbollah are part of the same axis," he was quoted as saying.
"The Syrian army is the one fighting and
leading the battles against the armed group, and this fight will
continue until all those who are called terrorists are eliminated."
Assad also said he would permit groups to
launch attacks against Israel in the Golan Heights. Israel took control
of the Golan from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967. The border has
been largely quiet since the May 1974 disengagement agreement following
the October 1973 Yom Kippur War.
"The Syrian government will not stand in the
way of any Syrian groups that want to wage a war of resistance to
liberate the Golan," Assad was quoted as saying.
Hezbollah has stated it would be willing to support groups that chose to launch operations in the Golan.
On Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
al-Muallem told the Lebanese television channel Al-Mayadeen that Israel
would face immediate retaliation if it were to attack Syria again. In
recent months, Israel has reportedly launched several airstrikes in
Syria against shipments of weapons destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Muallem said Assad would remain president of Syria at least until elections next year and that he might seek another term.
Syria's foreign minister also said that an
international solution to the Syrian civil war would have to be put to a
referendum in Syria.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
met on Wednesday with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, the chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Netanyahu thanked Menendez for a
bill the senator proposed that expressed support for Israel against the
Iranian threat.
"Senator, I would like to welcome you as a
great friend of Israel," Netanyahu said. "You did it again. Your bill
supporting Israel against the Iranian nuclear threat was passed by an
amazing majority, I think 99 to 0. Very few people can accomplish
something like that and it's the second time you've done it, because
you've also had the important sanctions bill. And we know that you stand
with us, as do the American people and the American government, the
American Congress, against the greatest security threat of our time,
which is Iran's quest for nuclear weapons."
Menendez said, "For 20 years, as a member of
the House of Representatives and the Senate and now as the chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I've always asked two questions
in terms of the U.S. foreign policy abroad: What is in the national
interest of the United States? What is in the national security interest
of the United States? And the answer to those questions, for myself,
I've always dictated my views, my advocacy and my votes.
"And for 20 years, I've answered that question as it
relates to the Middle East that it's in the national interest and the
national security of the United States to have a strong, unwavering
relationship with the State of Israel -- a true democracy in a very
tough part of the world; a major security ally of the United States; a
major trade partner of the United States; and a country most likely to
be voting in common cause with us in international parts."
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