Israel moved to play down speculation that a war with Syria could be imminent. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened top Cabinet colleagues Wednesday for intelligence briefings on Syria, which has made several peace overtures since last year’s Lebanon war but also built up military forces near its border with Israel. “Israel does not want war with Syria,” Olmert’s office quoted him as saying at the closed-door meeting. “We must avoid miscalculations that are liable to lead to a security deterioration.”
The prime minister has spoken of rapprochement with Damascus as an option, but conditioned it on the Syrians first stopping their sponsorship of Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorist groups. In parallel, Israeli officials tried to tamp down speculation that there could be armed confrontation with Syria within months or even weeks. Political sources said that the top military brass has received instructions not to make public comments that could be perceived as saber-rattling.
The Israeli rhetoric about Syria’s recent troop movements has also mellowed, with increasing references to it as “defensive” in nature.
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