Non-Subscriber Extract
Israel braces for Syrian response
By Alon Ben-David
05 October 2007
Israel is preparing for a Syrian response to the 6 September raid in northeast Syria, after both countries confirmed that the attack took place.
Israeli intelligence agencies are mostly concerned that the Syrian response will be in the form of a terror attack on an Israeli target around the world. Israeli official delegations worldwide and airlines were ordered to increase precautions, recalling the Syrian attempt to bomb an El-Al flight from London to Tel Aviv in 1986.
"I believe that the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad would rather act through proxies, such as terrorist organisation, than test his army in war against Israel," former Israel Defence Force (IDF) Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Moshe Ya'alon told Jane's.
Indeed, when asked by the British Broadcasting Corporation if he intends to retaliate against Israel, Syria's President Assad said: "Retaliate does not mean missile for missile and bomb for bomb. We have our means to retaliate, maybe politically, maybe in other ways. But we have the right to retaliate."