Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told senior members of the Likud Party a few years ago that a large-scale conflict with Syria was pending, Channel 13's Chief International Correspondent Nadav Eyal reported Thursday morning.
According to Eyal, the prime minister summoned a senior Likud official after Israel's 2013 election, claiming an oil field had been discovered in the Golan Heights. Netanyahu reportedly claimed the discovery would change the region.
The meeting reportedly began with a body search, with the prime minister making sure the official did not have his mobile phone.Netanyahu then told the politician he would be exposed to top secret information, saying it would have a significant impact on the power balance in the Middle East.
According to Eyal, Netanyahu warned the official not to reveal the information to other sources, including other party members. The discovery, the prime minister reportedly claimed, was expected to lead to increased tensions with Syria, as the Golan Heights are claimed by the war-torn country since the Six-Day War.
Although Netanyahu's reported claims were false, past reports have made similar claims. In 2015, Globes reported Afek Oil and Gas chief geologist Dr. Yuval Bartov told N12 (then Channel 2) that the field was "a strata which is 350 meters thick and what is important is the thickness and the porosity."
Bartov then continued, telling Globes that "on average in the world strata are 20-30 meters thick, so this is ten times as large as that, so we are talking about significant quantities. The important thing is to know the oil is in the rock and that's what we now know."
Speaking to another senior member of Likud during the formation of the cabinet, the politician reportedly found out they were both told the same narrative and offered the Energy Ministry, claiming it had become critical due to the geo-strategic significance of the alleged discovery.
With the growing Iranian presence in the Levantine state following the eradication of ISIS in Syria, tensions rose with the IAF striking pro-Iranian targets in the country, including ones affiliated with Hezbollah.
On Monday, satellite images captured by ImageSat International (ISI) suggested an underground advanced weapons facility was being built at Imam Ali military base in Al-Bukamal, Syria's border area with Iraq.
Satellite images from the area captured May 12 by ISI show bulldozers at the entrance of a 15-foot-wide structure on the northwestern edge of the base, the agency said. Images from April 1 show an excavator and bulldozers near the new construction site.
The length of the constructed tunnel remains unknown, with ISI assessing that the structure will not be significantly long due to the rigid terrain in the region. According to ISI, the tunnel is fit to be used as a storage facility for vehicles carrying advanced missile weaponry and provide shelter to its operators.
It was recently reported the Islamic Republic began reducing its military presence in Syria following numerous airstrikes reportedly carried out by the IAF. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said last week that the strikes would continue "until we achieve our final goal: driving Iran out of Syria," N13 reported.