Lieberman: Israel to Act if Syrian Chemical Weapons Fall in Hizbullah Hands
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Israel will act immediately if it discovers that Syria transferred chemical or biological weapons to Hizbullah.
Lieberman told Israel Radio: "For us, that's a casus belli, a red line."
Israel's political leaders have been warning in recent days that they would be prepared to strike weapons depots to keep those arms from reaching anti-Israel fighters.
They fear Hizbullah and other militants could raid those arsenals if the central government in Syria collapses amid intensifying violence.
Israel's military chief, however, counseled restraint on Tuesday, warning that an attack on Syrian chemical weapons depots could drag Israel into a broader war.
Israel currently assesses that Syria retains control over these arsenals.
Lieberman met on Tuesday with his EU colleagues as part of the annual EU-Israel Association Council meeting, where he called on the body to put Hizbullah on its terrorist list.
But Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said "there is no consensus for putting Hizbullah on the list of terrorist organisations."
An EU decision would require the unanimous approval of all its 27 members.
Lieberman said on Wednesday however that he put the proposal forward officially, indicating that it was a substantial beginning of what could be a long process to achieve the desired result.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Naharnet
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