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Syrian President Bashar Assad (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff August 13, 2007 |
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According to intelligence reports, Syria is building up an arsenal of missiles that are capable of carrying biological and chemical warheads to Tel Aviv and other major population centers. However Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that he will not order the distribution of gas masks, Army radio reported on Monday.
Barak is reportedly wary of taking measures that may lead the Syrians to believe that Israel is interested in attacking Syria, a fear echoed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other high-ranking officials.
MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud), the head the Knesset Subcommittee on the Home Front's Preparedness, sharply criticized the defense minister's decision and warned of the possible dire consequences, according to the Jerusalem Post.
"The decision not to hand out masks so as not to upset the Syrians reminds me of Moshe Dayan's unfortunate decision not to call up the reserves so as not to upset the Syrians and the Egyptians on the eve of the Yom Kippur War," he said.
Steinitz continued to slam Barak?s decision as gravely irresponsible.
"I say it's possible to defend the citizens of the state from threats, and whoever does not do this will stand before a commission of inquiry next to which the Winograd Committee will pale in comparison," he said.
In related news, Syria has reportedly purchased the world?s most advanced anti-aircraft missiles from Russia, top military officials said according to Ynet. The weaponry is considered to be of the most highly sophisticated of its kind.
Olmert has been meeting frequently with officials to discuss the likelihood of a potential war with Syria, which Olmert has reassured the nation is not foreseeable. However Syria?s swelling and increasingly sophisticated arsenal is one of the factors that has Israeli leaders concerned that Syria intends to go to war.
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