Israel and Syria seek to calm war fears - Haaretz

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Wed., August 15, 2007 Elul 1, 5767

Israel Time: 01:51 (EST+7)

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Israel and Syria seek to calm war fears

By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern

In an effort to forestall the possibility of a miscalculation leading to war, Syrian and Israeli leaders sent calming messages to each other yesterday.

Syrian Vice President Farouk Shara said that Damascus does not intend to initiate war, a message that was echoed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

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"Israel is not interested in war with Syria, but we are preparing for any eventuality," Olmert told officers during a visit to Northern Command headquarters yesterday.

"Israel knows that we do not wish for war," said Shara, speaking at a press conference in Damascus. "We will always be ready to respond to Israeli aggression, but we will not initiate war."

All of Syria's military preparations are defensive, Shara asserted, and accused Israel of "looking for an excuse to start a war."

"People on Syria's streets do not want war, although they will not accept anything less than Israeli withdrawal from the whole of the occupied Golan Heights. The Arab initiative is clear in this regard and we support it," Shara said, referring to an Arab League plan that calls for Israel to withdraw from all territories captured in 1967 in return for peace.

Shara said that this is the option Syria has chosen, but ominously noted that Damascus also has "other options."

Regarding his country's close ties with Iran, Shara said that the relationship is strategic, but stressed that it is "not blind."

During Olmert's visit to Northern Command, GOC Gadi Eisenkut described the Syrian army's movements on the Golan Heights as not being offensive in nature.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi were also at the meeting, as was Major General Amos Yadlin, the head of Military Intelligence. Yadlin stressed that "Syria is not planning to initiate a war, but the scenario of a possible miscalculation is still relevant."

Both Olmert and Barak called on Northern Command officers to bring "calm" to the front and avoid steps that might create confusion on the Syrian side.

The deputy defense minister, Matan Vilnai, also said yesterday that Syria has no interest in war with Israel.

"Israel, too, has no interest in war. The tension is natural, but unnecessary," he added during a visit to the village of Ghajar, on the border with Lebanon.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said that yesterday's visit to Northern Command had been preplanned and was not related to the escalating tensions.

These tensions have been fueled in part by the Israel Defense Forces' intensive training exercises, which are part of its rehabilitation program following the Second Lebanon War, as well as by the massive rearmament of the Syrian armed forces with sophisticated, primarily Russian-made arms.

Despite the Syrian rearmament, Yadlin was firm in his assessment that there are no indications that Damascus is planning an attack against Israel. The MI chief argued that war is currently not in Syria's interest.

As such, the defense establishment is primarily concerned that war may be triggered by miscalculation.

Senior defense officials told Haaretz that the situation on the Syrian front is likely to become clearer in the near future.

Meanwhile, the United States has been surprisingly uninvolved in the tensions, and has not sent Israel any special messages regarding its concerns over a possible conflagration on the Syrian front.

A senior political source in Jerusalem said yesterday that the American stance did not constitute "indifference," but explained that "in recent talks with the Americans, the focus was the Palestinian question. On the Syrian question, we spent two to three minutes and we told them [U.S. officials] the usual: that we have no intention of starting a war."

Another political source said that Israel and the U.S. regularly exchange intelligence information on Syria, but tensions on the border are not central to the diplomatic dialogue.

"The Americans are still concerned that we will become tired of the Palestinian track and turn our attention to the Syrian track," the source said. "The American message at this time is: 'Don't start a romance with the Syrians because of difficulties with the Palestinians.'"

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