Sunday, February 3, 2013

Ex-Israeli national security advisor says Israel hit Syrian missiles; Tukey laments lack of Syrian retaliation

(WJD) A former Israeli national security advisor confirmed on Saturday that Israel was responsible for last week's strike on what appears to have been a convoy of Syrian missiles on their way to be handed over to Hezbollah.

Giora Eiland, who served as NSC to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon from 2004-2006, told a meeting in the Israeli city of Kfar Saba that Israel had conducted the raid "with good reason," adding that "it was the right decision."

Rumors have swirled around the raid for days, with Israeli officials neither confirming nor denying involvement. The target remains somewhat unclear, but the most plausible story is that it was a shipment of "game changing" anti-aircraft missiles bound for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

Also on Saturday, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, berated Syria for not responding to the air strike, asking,
Why didn't the Syrian Army, which has been attacking its own innocent people for 22 months now from the air with jets and by land with tanks and artillery fire, respond to Israel's operation? Why can't Assad, who gave order to fire SCUD missiles at Aleppo, do anything against Israel?
According to the Jerusalem Post, Davutoglu hinted at an Israeli-Syrian agreement that prevented such a response. While bizarre and illogical, such conspiracy theories are common among Arab and Muslim observers of and participants in the Syrian civil war.