Israel dismissed rumors that it is planning to attack Syria or Lebanon if the United States strikes Iran. “Rumors have begun circulating that the United States intends to attack Iran during the summer and Israel will take advantage of this and attack Hezbollah and Syria,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday, referring to reports in the Arab and Iranian press. “I have been saying at every opportunity, and will say so again: We will not initiate a campaign against Syria.” Speaking hours before a visit to Israel by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Olmert said he had no knowledge of any plans by Washington to use military force against Iranian nuclear facilities. “We have no information on the United States planning to attack Iran. We are not privy to such planning,” he said. “What we are doing is preparing for any attack on us. In such an eventuality, we will be ready.”
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