BICOM

Both Israeli and British leaders ratcheted up their rhetoric against the Syrian regime yesterday, in separate statements. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the “slaughter” perpetrated by the Assad regime in Syria in a cabinet meeting. Meanwhile Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters that military intervention could not be ruled out.

Hague told Sky News, “Syria is … on the edge of a collapse or of a sectarian civil war so I don’t think we can rule anything out”. He added, “It is looking more like Bosnia in the 1990s, being on the edge of a sectarian conflict in which neighbouring villages are killing each other.”

Meanwhile Netanyahu told Israeli ministers, “the massacre is not only carried out by the Syrian government, but is also aided by Iran and Hezbollah…The world must see this axis of evil so everyone would understand in what world we live in.”

Earlier Sunday in an interview on Army Radio, Israel’s Vice Prime Minister and Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz went further by calling for international military intervention to topple Assad, akin to last year’s campaign in Libya. Mofaz also criticised Russia for arming Damascus and said that, “a crime against humanity, genocide, is being conducted in Syria today. And the silence of the world powers is contrary to all human logic.”

Until recently, Israeli leaders have remained relatively quiet about the situation in Syria, fearing that by speaking up for the Syrian opposition, they might harm them by association. In recent weeks however, Israeli leaders have been more vocal, with many in the political and security establishment concerned that Assad may cling on to power.