http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43481803

Quote:srael has for the first time confirmed that it destroyed a suspected nuclear reactor being built in Syria in 2007.

The military said fighter jets bombed the al-Kibar facility in Deir al-Zour province, 450km (280 miles) north-east of Damascus, as it neared completion.

Syria's government has repeatedly denied that it was building a reactor.

The Israeli defence minister said the public acknowledgement of the strike after more than 10 years of secrecy was a message to his country's enemies.

"The motivation of our enemies has increased in recent years, but the strength of our army, our air force and our intelligence capabilities have increased compared with the capabilities we had in 2007," Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement.

"This equation should be taken into account by everyone in the Middle East."

Quote:At 22:30 on 5 September 2007, F-16 and F-15 jets took off from two bases in southern Israel and flew towards Deir al-Zour, via the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian-Turkish border.

The jets returned four hours later, after conducting a strike that totally disabled the reactor and caused irreversible damage, according to the IDF.

The IDF said it was decided not to confirm the strike or publish any information afterwards "in light of the highly sensitive security situation".

The Syrian military did not retaliate after the attack. President Bashar al-Assad said only that Israel had "bombed buildings and construction related to the military", which were "not used".

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded in 2011 that the site was "very likely" to have been a nuclear reactor.

Quote:Israel, which is not a signatory to the NPT, is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal - though it has neither confirmed nor denied this.

The IDF also noted that Islamic State (IS) militants fighting in Syria's civil war seized control of Deir al-Zour in 2014.

"One could only imagine how much havoc they could have wreaked with a nuclear facility in their hands," it said.

Quote:It was never in any real doubt that Israel was behind the strike on the al-Kibar facility in the Syrian desert a decade ago. What matters about today's confirmation is its timing and the vivid way in which the Israeli military has chosen to publicise it.

The message being projected via the black-and-white pictures from the planes' cockpits is this: that Israel would be prepared to put Iranian nuclear facilities in the planes' crosshairs in the future.

Remember this one?

Quote:Operation Opera (Hebrew: מבצע אופרה‎‎‎), also known as Operation Babylon,[2] was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor under construction 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The operation came after Iran's unsuccessful Operation Scorch Sword operation had caused minor damage to the same nuclear facility the previous year, the damage having been subsequently repaired by French technicians. Operation Opera, and related Israeli government statements following it, established the Begin Doctrine, which explicitly stated the strike was not an anomaly, but instead “a precedent for every future government in Israel.” Israel's counter-proliferation preventive strike added another dimension to their existing policy of deliberate ambiguity, as it related to the nuclear capability of other states in the region.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera

A fascinating story.

/ high-fives Israel.

Thank you.

We don't have Obama restraining Israel from attacking Iran. Only geography. They would have to fly over countries that are not hostile to them.

(03-21-2018 10:02 AM)bullet Wrote:  We don't have Obama restraining Israel from attacking Iran. Only geography. They would have to fly over countries that are not hostile to them.

Israel will punch back if push comes to shove. Which is good because that means we don't have to.

(03-21-2018 10:02 AM)bullet Wrote:  We don't have Obama restraining Israel from attacking Iran. Only geography. They would have to fly over countries that are not hostile to them.

I think that is a typo, but as written I agree. The countries they would have to fly over would not be hostile to them. At least, not as hostile as they are toward Iran. They may hate Israel, but they fear Iran more.

It was widely reported overseas, but received little press here in the US, that Israel and the Saudis reportedly reached an agreement whereby the Saudis granted them overflight rights and possible assistance (refueling, AWACS) for an air attack on Iran. I read about it in The Australian (Sydney) and later saw a news clip about it on TV in the Seychelles.

(03-21-2018 10:27 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Israel and the Saudis reportedly reached an agreement whereby the Saudis granted them overflight rights and possible assistance (refueling, AWACS) for an air attack on Iran. I read about it in The Australian (Sydney) and later saw a news clip about it on TV in the Seychelles.

The agreement itself not surprising but the fact that the Saudis are now willing to admit/publicize such agreements marks a possible turning point.

Separate-but-related point:
The people who said that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would antagonize the Arabs and/or have some other negative consequences for Israel and/or the United States — did they ever apologize for being so stupid? There were lots but I’m thinking of Tom Friedman in particular.