Syria began calling up its reserve army units on Sunday, as tensions continue to rise between Syria and Israel over the violation of Syria's airspace last week. According to the An Nahar daily newspaper, Syria has begun "calling up its reserve force."
Meanwhile Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised the IDF for its courageous and unusual operation, but refrained from divulging details or referring directly to the alleged Israeli flyover. "I want to express my appreciation of the security forces courageous and unusual operations aimed at impeding the activities of terror groups," Olmert said at Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Speculation in the media over the reason Israeli war planes flew over Syria last week continues. Some reports claim that Israel wanted to film the sophisticated missiles Syria recently received from Russia, and others claimed that the aim was to film a secret Syrian military instillation. Whatever the reason, the fact that Israel chose to carry out an operation at such a sensitive time, shows that Prime Minister Olmert's government and the IDF have chosen determination and daring, over a waiting game and restraint.
Syria continues to mull over its response, however one cannot rule out the possibility that it will deploy its sleeper cells deployed throughout Europe to attack Israeli targets abroad.
With all eyes to Israel's northern border, the army may also have to contend with Israel's southern border - Gaza and the Hamas. The latter continues to enjoy constant Iranian funding for its operations, which has allowed it to expand operations to the West Bank. It is clear that Syrian President Bashar Assad, while young and unexperienced, has maintained strong ties with Iran, not only because of its endless funding but also because the two countries share a common factor - the destruction of Israel by any means possible. While Iranian President Ahmadinejad continues to build his country's nuclear capability and threatens Israel's destruction, Assad allows the terror leaders to remain in Damascus where they freely dictate the agenda of the terror organizations operating in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem intends to present Turkey with evidence backing its claim that the Israel Air Force violated Syrian airspace last week, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayyat reported Sunday.
Reports from Damascus claim the alleged operation was a "diplomatic and military experiment" in order to test Syria's reactions and intentions.
Asked about the incident on which Israel has maintainted a staunch silence, Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan said: "Those who think that the Syrians are ready to sit down at the table of negotiations are wrong.The Syrians cannot say that they want peace and encourage terrorism," said Eitan, an Israeli cabinet minister.
Over the wekend the daily newspaper The Lebanese Star quoted Syrian media who warned that the country "possesses the means to respond ... so that it will deter Israel against proceeding with such unpredictable adventures." Analysts speculated such a foray could have been probing Syria's defenses or monitoring long-range missile bases. The report claimed that the Israeli flight path would have taken the jets near Iran, whose growing power and anti-Israel government sentiment concerns Israeli leaders.09/09/07
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