Israeli foreign minister threatens Syrian regime (Roundup)

Feb 4, 2010, 14:16 GMT

Tel Aviv - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should know that if he attacked Israel, the Israelis would not only defeat him, but also topple his regime, Israel's ultra-right foreign minister warned Thursday.

'This is the message that should go out to the ruler of Syria from Israel,' Avigdor Lieberman said in remarks at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv, broadcast on Israel Radio.

'In the next war, not only will you lose. Neither you nor the Assad family will remain in power,' said Lieberman, of the ultra-nationalist Israel Beitenu, the largest coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

The remark by the hardline foreign minister sparked outraged reactions from Israeli lawmakers from the centre to the left, with the largest opposition party calling them 'irresponsible.'

The Netanyahu government is 'playing with fire,' the centrist Kadima opposition party said in a statement.

'In the absence of a clear political leadership, any irresponsible minister can issue threats about all-out war. Instead of calming tempers, official Israel is fanning the flames,' it said.

Eitan Cabel, a member of the leftist Labour Party, Netanyahu's second largest coalition partner, called on Netanyahu to sack his 'war-provoking foreign minister.'

Haim Oron, of the left-liberal Meretz party said that 'a minister of war is sitting in our foreign minister, who has turned Israeli diplomacy into an industry of strife, instead of solving crises.' He too urged Netanyahu to sack Lieberman.

The hardline Israeli foreign minister in his Bar Ilan University statement also suggested that Assad give up his dream of retrieving the strategic Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syrian in the 1967 war.

'We must bring Syria to the realization that just as it gave up on the dream of greater Syria and control of Lebanon, just as it gave up on the Iskandaron district to Turkey, so it will have to give up on its ultimate demand for the Golan Heights,' he said.

'Our message should be that if Assad's father lost a war but remained in power, the son should know that an attack will cost him his regime.'

Lieberman was reacting to remarks by Assad and Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Mouallem Wednesday, in which they had reportedly charged that Israel was driving the Middle East toward a new regional war and was 'not serious' about wanting peace.

Mouallem had also reportedly warned Israel not to 'test' Syria's determination and hinted that Damascus would strike at Israeli cities if attacked.

Netanyahu's office expressed 'regret' at Assad's remarks, which it said ran counter to reality.

The prime minister has declared many times that he would be willing to go anywhere to negotiate with Damascus without preconditions, a spokesman told the radio station.

One commentator on Israel Radio said Lieberman had meant his threat as a 'deterrent' to avoid war, but another warned that belligerent remarks like his could spark a dangerous fire that could burn out of control.