Israel admits striking suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel for the first time confirmed that it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, saying on Wednesday that the strike removed a major threat to Israel and the region and was a “message” to others.
The first public acknowledgement by Israel that its F-16 and F-15 warplanes carried out the September 6, 2007, bombing of the partially constructed Al Kubar facility near Deir Al Zor was made after military censors lifted a more than 10-year order that had barred Israeli officials from discussing it.
The strike had already been extensively reported on abroad, and discussed by US officials. Israel, however, kept quiet to avoid provoking Syrian reprisals and a possible regional war.
The Israeli military released newly declassified operational footage, photographs and intelligence documents about the bombing and detailing the intelligence operation that led up to it.
Israel concluded that the reactor had been under construction with North Korean help and was months away from activation.
Reuters has been unable to immediately verify the Israeli material. Israel’s decision to go public comes after repeated calls in recent months by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States and international community to take tougher action on Iran.
“The motivation of our enemies has grown in recent years, but so too the might of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces),” Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday.
“Everyone in the Middle East would do well to internalise this equation,” he said.
The Israeli military described in detail the events leading up to the night of September 5 to September 6, 2007, in which, it said, eight warplanes took off from the Ramon and Hatzerim air bases and flew to Deir Al Zor region, 450 km northwest of Damascus, Syria, and dropped 18 tonnes of munitions.
The operation was launched after it received intelligence indicating that “a substantial threat to Israel and the region, in the form of a nuclear reactor, was being built in Syria”.
In his 2010 memoir “Decision Points,” former US president George W. Bush disclosed that he discussed intelligence about the Syrian facility with then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert before it was destroyed but did not give him the green light for the raid.
James Jeffrey, Bush’s deputy national security adviser, said on Wednesday that the former US president had been “absolutely supportive” of Israel.
“(He) made it clear that we were very happy that events had eliminated this threat and that if there were any threats to Israel that would emerge from this situation, the United States would stand with Israel, period,” Jeffrey told Israel’s Army Radio.
The Israeli military declassified internal “top secret” intelligence reports, in Hebrew, some of them partly redacted.
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