SYRIA: Intemperate remarks by a Syrian diplomat prompted Syria and Israel yesterday to emphasise they had no desire to escalate the current regional tension into war, writes David Horovitz in Jerusalem.
"If Israel continues to attack us," Syria's ambassador in Spain, Mr Mohsen Bilal, told Reuters, "of course we shall react." Did he mean militarily? "By all means," he replied.
Mr Bilal was speaking three days after Israeli planes raided a base northwest of Damascus which it said had been used for training by Islamic Jihad. It was a response to Saturday's suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad of a Haifa restaurant in which 19 Israelis were killed.
No sooner had the ambassador's comments hit the news wires, however, than Damascus rushed to play them down. The ambassador was merely offering "his personal understanding", said one source, adding that the official Syrian response to the Israeli raid was its demand - as yet unmet - for the passage of a resolution it has submitted to the UN Security Council condemning Israel.
Syria has missiles trained on Israel; reportedly has a non-conventional weapons programme; is formally at war with the Jewish state, but is militarily much outpowered by it.
Israel has said it will hit Syria again unless it expels Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other American - and European - outlawed groups from its territory. The Israeli Defence Minister, Mr Shaul Mofaz, said yesterday Israel had proof that Syria was connected to Saturday's bombing.
Nevertheless, there was no formal Israeli response to the ambassador's comments and, privately, one official noted that "Israel does not seek an escalation with Syria, and indeed has taken precautions to prevent that. We will act in self-defence if necessary, but not if Damascus receives our message that it must stop supporting terror". Nevertheless, tension is high on Israel's northern borders with both Syria and Lebanon. Israeli planes flew over southern Lebanese territory yesterday. However, it is higher still between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr Ahmed Korei, the new Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, is working to broker an intifada ceasefire involving all Palestinian factions. But he is doing so without a government minister formally responsible for security. Mr Nasser Yousef, the minister-designate, is refusing to take the post without parliamentary approval - apparently seeking wide support for steps he may take against the extremists.
Islamic Jihad, in particular, is said to be firmly resisting any halt to attacks. Israel has boosted its military deployment in the West Bank and on access routes to Israel in recent days, and closed off individual Palestinian cities. Officials said they had warnings of dozens of planned attacks by Islamic Jihad and offshoots of President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the PLO.
Mr Arafat's doctors and aides yesterday denied reports that he recently suffered a mild heart attack. They confirmed he has been unwell but ascribed this to a stomach virus. Israel has been threatening to "remove" Mr Arafat, whom it blames for encouraging bomb attacks.
The Israeli army has dismissed Brig-Gen Yiftah Spector, a pilot in the reserves and Air Force instructor, who was the highest-ranking signatory among 27 pilots on a recent letter refusing to fly missions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.