No signs of Syrian preparations for war, IDF says - Haaretz

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Tue., September 11, 2007 Elul 28, 5767

Israel Time: 02:01 (EST+7)

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No signs of Syrian preparations for war, IDF says

By Amos Harel

Israel has thus far not detected any Syrian preparations for war. Nonetheless, Israel Defense Forces units on the Golan Heights are on high alert, and will remain that way throughout the holiday period.

However, Israel has not identified any unusual Syrian preparations, nor has there been any confirmation of reports in the Lebanese press on Sunday that Syria had ordered a partial call-up of the reserves.

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The IDF is remaining at a high level of alert all along the Syrian border. Regular army troops are deployed throughout the Golan Heights.

The IDF is studying various scenarios for a Syrian response. One possibility is a Syrian provocation on the Golan in the guise of a Druze or Palestinian "liberation organization" that would attack an IDF force. Another possible scenario is a terrorist attack in the territories or inside Israel by a Palestinian organization acting under Syrian orders.

Moshe Ya'alon, a former IDF chief of staff, said in an interview with Channel 10 television yesterday that "basically, I do not think the president of Syria, Bashar Assad, is interested in starting a war that would test the Syrian army." Ya'alon believes that Assad prefers to act via proxies, such as terrorist organizations.

Israel has been carefully following the statements made by Syrian government officials since the incident. During a visit to Turkey yesterday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem claimed that the Israeli jets dropped ammunition during their overflight of Syrian territory. Nonetheless, it seems that the Syrians are continuing to try to minimize the dissemination of information about the affair - especially in the Syrian state media.

For this reason, President Shimon Peres canceled his planned visit to the IDF General Staff at the last minute yesterday. Peres acceded to a request by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who feared that media coverage of the visit could be interpreted incorrectly by the Syrians.

Barak also felt it would be better for the generals scheduled to meet with Peres during his visit to spend their time on other matters just now.

Nevertheless, the IDF will go ahead with two ceremonies planned for today to award commendations for the Second Lebanon War - one in the Air Force and one in Central Command.

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