The recent bloodbath in Syria is a harsh reminder of the ruthless region Israel
finds itself in, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the opening of
Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
“In the last few days we have received a
reminder of the kind of neighborhood we live in,” Netanyahu said. “We heard the
comments by Iran’s ruler about destroying Israel, we saw the Syrian army
massacre its own people, and we saw other similar bloody incidents in our
region,” an apparent reference to last week’s death of 75 people at an Egyptian
soccer match.
He said various regional leaders had no moral compunctions
about killing their own people, or their neighbors.
“In this region the
only thing ensuring [Israel’s] survival, security and prosperity is our
strength,” Netanyahu said. “We are obligated to continue to develop Israel’s
military, economic and social strength. That is also the only guarantor of
peace, and Israel’s only defense if that peace unravels.”
At the Likud
ministers meeting before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel had no
intention of intervening in any manner in the events taking place inside Syria,
even though it was not “apathetic to the massacre” taking place there. Netanyahu
put the number of people killed in the nearly year-long uprising there at close
to 10,000, nearly double the number generally reported in the
media.
Before the cabinet meeting, a number of ministers commented on the
events in Syria – and the failure of the UN Security Council to pass a
resolution Saturday condemning the violence – even though as a government Israel
was formally not issuing any statements on the developments.
Finance
Minister Yuval Steinitz termed Russia and China’s veto Saturday of the Security
Council condemnation a “disappointment.”
Characterizing what was
happening in Syria as a massacre being perpetrated by a “brutal tyrant” with the
help of Iran and Hezbollah, Steinitz said the very least the international
community could do at this time was to impose “the harshest sanctions” on Syria
and call on Assad to step down and “free his people from this murderous
tyranny.”
Vice Premier and Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom, a
former foreign minister, said it was unfortunate that China and Russia vetoed a
resolution that, in any event, he said was “softer than
necessary.”
“Everyone should express deep shock at what is going on in
Syria,” he said. “The massacre there is cruel and incomprehensible. There
is no doubt that it needs to be stopped, and that the international community is
at a critical decision- making hour: whether it has the ability to stop this
type of murder.”
Vice Premier and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe
Ya’alon, in an Army Radio interview, rejected the idea Israel somehow supported
the continuation of Assad’s regime, saying his fall could cause a “serious
break” in the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut- Hamas “axis of evil.” There have been
those arguing that Israel supported Assad largely because of the dictum that
“the devil you know is better than the one you don’t,” and Israel had no idea
about who or what would replace Assad.
But Ya’alon said there was a big
difference between Syria and Egypt, where the fall of Hosni Mubarak led to the
significant rise of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and
Salafists. Saying that the Muslim Brotherhood was much weaker in Syria than in
Egypt, Ya’alon added that he thought a moderate Sunni government of middle-class
intellectuals and generals could eventually take control of the
country.
Ya’alon refused to comment on whether or not the government was
in contact with members of the Syrian opposition, saying that announcing such
contacts would hurt the opposition by painting it as “backed by Zionists.”