Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin believes that the elements of a serious confrontation between Israel and Syria exist as a result of Syria’s recent deployment of Soviet-made SAM-2 surface-to-air missiles along its border with Lebanon which abuts the Bekaa Valley.
The Defense Minister outlined a scenario that could lead to escalation and conflict, in an address to Israel Defense Force officer cadets Friday. Last night, speaking at a Labor Party seminar in Tel Aviv, Rabin disclosed that Israel has warned Syria that the SAM-2s on its border could lead to conflict. He said the warning was conveyed to Damascus through the U.S.
DENIES ISRAEL APOLOGIZED TO SYRIA
He denied reports that Israel had apologized to Syria, through the U.S., for shooting down two Syrian jets last month, in the course of which Israeli warplanes briefly entered Syrian air space. Israeli officials are reported to have conceded that this had been an error and asked Washington to bring that view to the attention of Damascus. But according to Rabin, there was no error.
He said the Syrian MIGs were downed when they presented an aggressive posture toward Israel aircraft flying routine reconnaissance flights over Lebanon. It was a split-second decision by the local commander with which he fully concurred, Rabin said.
The Defense Minister noted that within days of the incident, the Syrians moved SAM-6 and SAM-8 anti-aircraft missiles into eastern Lebanon and SAM-2s to the border. The former were withdrawn a day or so later, but the SAM-2s remain and pose a threat, he said.
He told the IDF cadets Friday that the most likely scenario for conflict would start with stepped up terrorist activity in Lebanon. “We know most of the terrorist bases are in the Bekaa, and if the IDF acts against terrorist bases, let’s assume from the air, and if (Syrian) missiles are used, a situation is likely to be created in which, without either side wanting it, there is an escalation,” Rabin said.
Last week, the United States warned Israel and Syria against an “escalation of tension in the region or resort to military force. Such actions would not be in the best interests of Israel, Lebanon, Syria or the United States.” This warning, issued by the State Department, added that the U.S. has “called upon Israel and Syria to exercise restraint.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
