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Jul. 21, 2007 12:19 | Updated Jul. 22, 2007 3:09
Lieberman calls for emergency gov't
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND AP
Strengthening ties between Syria and Iran pose a serious threat to
Israel, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Saturday,
calling for a national unity government to protect the Jewish state
from the growing "axis of evil."
Lieberman's comments came after reports that Iran would fund, to the
tune of $1 billion, new Syrian fighter jets, tanks and antiship
missiles, and would aid Syria's nuclear and chemical weapons research
programs. Assad also reportedly promised Ahmadinejad that he would
cease his pursuit of peace talks with Israel if Iran would back Syrian
interests in Lebanon.
Eitan: We must not negotiate with Syria
"The strengthening of the relationship between [Syrian President
Bashar] Assad and [his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad,
demands that Israel reorganize its political and military strategies,"
Lieberman said.
"I call on the prime minister and the head of the opposition to
reconsider the option of [forming] an emergency national unity
government."
The last national unity government was formed in 1984, when neither
Labor nor the Likud garnered enough Knesset seats to create a
coalition on its own.
The details from the leaders' meeting in Damascus on Thursday were
leaked to the pan-Arabic daily Asharq Alawsat by an anonymous Iranian
source and were published on Saturday.
The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday night questioned the accuracy
of the report. But the news prompted MKs from across the political
spectrum to reevaluate Israel's strategy on Syria and Iran.
"Syria's [overtures] to Iran demonstrate Assad's hasty and hazardous
nature. In contrast to his father, Hafez, Bashar is taking exaggerated
risks and is placing the very existence of his regime in jeopardy,"
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi
(Kadima) said.
"Iran is an ever-increasing threat. Not only to Israel, but to the
stability of the region, to pragmatic Arab states and to the hegemony
of the sane and realistic West," Hanegbi said.
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member MK Arye Eldad (National
Union-National Religious Party) said the agreement between Iran and
Syria was "reminiscent of the pacts that were signed on the eve of the
Six Day and Yom Kippur Wars."
"The Iranian decision will lead to attacks on Israel launched from
Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran," Eldad said.
MK Yisrael Katz (Likud) said the new deal proved that the Arab world
perceived Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government as weak and easily
deceived.
"How many times will they continue to believe [Assad's] peace
overtures. He has proved to us again that he is approaching us as a
dove, but that he's really a snake," said Katz.
Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin said that while the report was troubling,
Israel should respond by engaging in direct talks with Syria.
"The threat from the North is growing right before our eyes, and our
government is responding by rejecting [Assad's] statements," said
Beilin. "Those who refuse today to enter into direct or indirect talks
with Syria instead of acting in Israel's interests may find themselves
responsible for another round of unnecessary bloodshed in the
region."
An official in the Prime Minister's Office said that both before and
after Thursday's meeting in Syria, Israel was ready for any
eventuality on the Syrian front. While Israel has made every effort to
reach peace with Syria and would continue to do so, the official said,
the fact that a meeting took place involving Assad, Ahmadinejad and
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah showed that Assad was still
deep in the axis of evil.
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