Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening after defense consultations at his office in Tel Aviv about the latest events in Syria and the threat of a US attack there, which could impact Israel. Netanyahu said, "The State of Israel is prepared for every eventuality. We are not part of Syria's civil war but if we detect any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will hit back and we will hit back hard."
Earlier today it was announced that an Israeli delegation led by National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror visited the White House yesterday for meeting with US National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
The delegation has scheduled additional meetings although the visit was arranged before the latest escalation of the situation in Syria. The events in Syria naturally dominated the agenda at yesterday's meeting, however Rice's spokesperson simply said that talks dealt with "Iran, Egypt, Syria and a range of other regional topics."
However, sources in Washington believe that the issues discussed was how to prepare for any attempt to harm Israel by Iran or Syria following planned US actions in Syria that now seem inevitable. Both Jerusalem and Washington want to avoid Israel being dragged into the Syrian crisis.
The belief is that the likelihood of missiles being fired at Israel, perhaps by Hezbollah are very small and close to zero, while Hamas is completely outside of the game following its rift with Damascus. Nevertheless, every possibility must be taken into account.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 27, 2013
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