Netanyahu looks to calm tone toward Syria

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak reiterated yesterday that Israel seeks to renew peace negotiations with Syria, and does not seek conflict with Damascus. Netanyahu is reported to have instructed ministers to cease commenting on the perceived tension between Israel and Syria after a series of verbal exchanges between Syrian and Israeli officials threatened to cause further deterioration between Jerusalem and Damascus. The exchange of barbed remarks came after Syrian President Assad told Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Mouratinos that Israel was leading the region towards war. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem then upped the rhetoric, telling reporters that should a new war break out, it would be a 'total' war and would reach Israeli cities. Some reports suggested that the Syrian remarks came in response to an earlier comment by Defence Minister Ehud Barak that it was essential to renew talks with Syria in order to avoid renewed conflict. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman then said yesterday that should Syria launch war against Israel, the result would be the departure of the Assad regime from power. At this point, Netanyahu stepped in to halt the escalation and reiterate Israel's readiness for negotiations and peace.

Is there anything of substance to this 'war of words'? What can be said with certainty is that Israeli officials are concerned at the very close relationship which has developed between Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah organisation, and at the type and quantity of arms which Syria is making available to Hezbollah via the border between the two countries. In recent weeks, Syria has supplied Hezbollah with M-600 surface to surface missiles, which Hezbollah has now deployed in Lebanon. This Syrian-made system is based on the Iranian Fateh-110 system, and would enable Hezbollah to target and strike at any chosen point in central Israel. Syrian officials have also gone on the record in the regional press in the past weeks as saying that Damascus has taken a strategic decision that the 'resistance' will not be allowed to lose any future conflict with Israel. It is possible that concerns over the hardening stance of Damascus in both practical and verbal terms is behind the sudden spurt of barbed remarks emanating from both sides.

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