WarSclerotic

Israel Hayom | ‘If he could, Assad would do to us what he’s doing to his own people’.

Syria possesses the largest chemical weapons stocks in the world, including missiles and rockets that can reach any point in Israel, Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh told Israel Hayom in an interview published June 11, 2012.

Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate fallen soldiers and mark 30 years since the Battle of Sultan Yacoub between Syria and Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War, Naveh said, “Syria today has the largest chemical weapons stockpile in our neighborhood. These missiles can reach any point in Israel and therefore we must remain vigilant.”

The deputy chief of staff’s comments reflect a growing concern within the Israeli military in recent months that weapons of mass destruction, particularly chemical weapons stashed in large quantities in Syria, will fall into the hands of rebels and then terrorist groups.

Commenting on crimes perpetrated by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army to crush the uprising against his rule, Naveh warned, “What the Syrians are doing to their own people they would do to us if they got the chance.”

In March, the IDF said that if Hezbollah acquires chemical weapons and advanced anti-aircraft systems, Israel will have to recalibrate its planned defenses to Hezbollah attacks. The IDF is concerned that more lethal and advanced weapons could be transferred from Syria to Hezbollah if the Syrian leadership finds itself in a desperate situation. A senior defense official told Israel Hayom in March that the transfer of chemical weapons from Syria to Hezbollah would be tantamount to a declaration of war, and added that Israel would not accept such a move and would take action to prevent it.

Syria has transferred advanced weapons to Hezbollah control in recent years, but the weapons have remained on Syrian soil in accordance with Assad’s instructions, to avoid their possible destruction by Israel. With the increasing belief that Assad’s rule is expected to end in the near future, some analysts have warned he may decide to transfer arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The delivery could include a large number of long-range missiles, advanced anti-aircraft systems that could threaten Israel Air Force flights in the north, and chemical weapons.

Syria is believed to possess the world’s largest stockpile of chemical weapons, including some of the deadliest chemical agents known, such as sarin and the nerve agent VX. Their chemical agents have already been integrated in warheads mounted on advanced Scud missiles.

The weapons are currently under the tight supervision of military forces loyal to Assad, but may be transferred to Hezbollah — possibly even at Iran’s behest — because Lebanon is currently perceived as more stable than Syria. “We are seeing a paradoxical process unfold, in which Syria is undergoing a process of ‘Lebanonization’ and vice versa,” a senior Israeli defense official told Israel Hayom. “Syria, which was an island of stability in the past is now being torn apart by military clashes. Lebanon is now perceived as being the more stable of the two,” the official added.

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