ISRAEL TELLS U.S. SYRIA PREPARING FOR WAR

Israel Told US That Syria Is Preparing for War
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Israeli officials last week told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Syria is preparing for a full-blown military confrontation against Israel, an Israeli paper reported over the weekend. There is no tangible evidence that Damascus is planning an all-out war with Israel, the U.S. was told. "But it is believed that Damascus has concluded that Israel might respond to various Syrian actions, and that would be the cause of a full-blown confrontation," Ze'ev Schiff wrote in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz. In the past, Israel has threatened and even bombed sites in Syria that have been connected with Palestinian terrorism. Syria hosts the headquarters of various Palestinian terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in its capital, Damascus. According to the assessment, Syria would view future Israeli action against Palestinian terrorists, including Hizballah, as reason for a full-scale war.