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Israel warns Syria it would lose future war

04 February 2010 19:09 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. Israel’s foreign minister harshly warned Syria Thursday against drawing the Jewish state into another war, saying its army would be defeated and its regime would collapse in a future conflict, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Pressâ€.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also advised Syria to abandon its dreams of recovering the Israeli-held Golan Heights in a speech that ratcheted up simmering political tensions between the two longtime foes and sparked an urgent damage control campaign from the prime minister’s office. Lieberman’s exceptionally harsh words followed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s accusation on Wednesday that Israel was the one avoiding peace, and his foreign minister’s earlier threat that Israel’s cities would be attacked in a future conflict.

Lieberman’s bellicose language contrasted sharply with the statement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued late Wednesday, saying the Jewish state seeks peace. It also said Netanyahu "would be willing to go anywhere in the world, and doesn’t rule out any assistance by a fair third party, to promote the political process in order to begin peace talks with Syria without any preconditions."

In a statement Thursday, Netanyahu’s spokesman Nir Hefetz said the prime minister spoke with Lieberman about the Syria issue.

"The two clarify that the policy of the government is clear: Israel seeks peace and negotiations with Syria without preconditions. Having said that, Israel will continue to act aggressively and persistently to any threat toward it," the statement read.
In another statement, the prime minister’s office said Netanyahu will inform his ministers to refrain from speaking about the Syrian issue.

Damascus has since expressed interest in having Turkey resume its mediation role, but Israel and Turkey have clashed diplomatically since Israel’s war in Gaza last winter, and Israeli officials have said they no longer consider Turkey to be an honest broker.