Ten years of silence on Syria strike. Prime Minister, trust the air force pilots. He was waiting for us outside the plane as we landed, with hugs. The scheme was only marginally feasible, as it was technically difficult and expensive. The US carried out additional airstrikes targeting enemy positions and rocket launchers near Deir ez-Zor in northeast Syria following a rocket attack on coalition bases In a one-on-one conversation Olmert tried to resolve their differences of opinion, but according to him Barak continued to try to convince ministers that a premature bombing of the reactor would cost Israel a war. [41] President Lu'ay al-Atassi subsequently resigned, signalling his disapproval of the executions. She is familiar with this.. People realized that there was something bigger here. Between June and September, the operational planning became more detailed, additional precise information about the destination came in, different methods of action were assembled and finally the crews were slotted into the operation. Bibi, he said to his veteran opponent, its at midnight tonight. Netanyahu wished him success and said, I will react in accordance with the circumstances. Olmert, like Ashkenazi, stressed the need for secrecy after the attack as well. The airbase has been occupied by the Syrian military throughout the country's six-year civil war, and Syrian Air Force Su-22 and MiG-23 warplanes fly from there. WebThe US bombed Syria on Friday, April 13, 2018, in retaliation for the Assad regimes use of chemical weapons. Baraks behavior, says one of the top defense people, was simply deplorable, Especially taking into account the disagreement about bombing the nuclear sites in Iran, which erupted two years later. As far as is known, it was carried out without the advance permission or involvement of Iran or Syria. Had it not been for his carelessness and the Mossads brilliant work, it is doubtful that the operation to destroy the reactor would have taken place. Amos Yadlin. The vast majority of those who took part in the meetings describe a very sharp, determined leader, almost chomping at the bit. Nevertheless, the Arab states were not prepared to coexist with a project which seemed likely to make a major contribution to Israel's economic growth. Assad sent an emissary to tell the commanders that he would start shelling the base if they did not surrender. WebCNN . According to him, he did not recommend attacking a hot reactor, but rather said that it was necessary to prepare for any eventuality and that the reactor becoming operational should not cause the decision-makers in Israel to despair. On 9 March the NCRC released Lu'ay al-Atassi from jail, promoted him to the rank of lieutenant general, appointed him commander-in-chief and NCRC chairman, the de facto head of state. The cabinet met for a discussion in Jerusalem in the morning. bombing Amir relates that a number of years later he watched a video that had been filmed in the command post during the attack. The war is referenced in the famous US antiwar 1965 song "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire with the line "And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'". In the meantime, Shkedi went to the Hatzerim and Ramon air bases to talk with the crews that would take part in the operation and to reveal the real target to most of them. WebBy ALBERT AJI and BASSEM MROUE October 20, 2021. Syria The plebeian character of the struggle and the radical ideologies spawned radical solutions to the agrarian problem. There was not much traffic in the area. The planning and the unfolding conspiracy was inspired by the Iraqi Regional Branch's successful military coup. At the cabinet meeting I had already warned the ministers: Anyone who talks will be responsible for Assad reacting. We were flying in a hostile area. By no stretch of the imagination will you come back without the reactor having been destroyed. [26] Later that morning, the coupmakers convened at the army headquarters to celebrate. The Arab states decided to deprive Israel of 35% of the National Water Carrier capacity, by a diversion of the Jordan River headwaters (both the Hasbani and the Banias) to the Yarmouk River. Both of us were very excited. The weather along the way surprised us in a number of places. The area thereby functioned as one of France's colonies, and the newly established state was viewed unfavorably by most Syrians, with many of them regarding it as a vassal of European imperialism. May I suggest they appoint a liaison officer to communicate their views to us? [The threat] at the existential level is of an unprecedented order of magnitude.. An event with a relatively small footprint, a sharp and quiet action at a site far from where people were living, if Israel did not take responsibility for it and if its leaders did not prattle in its aftermath, would enable Assad to downplay the event. We had to figure out an answer on the spot. Syria: Shelling and rocket fire reported in Al-Bab Feb. 2; several Alongside the urgent necessity of removing the surprising new threat in Syria, Olmert was keen to mend the flaws revealed in his functioning in Lebanon as well as the publics impression of him. [26], Assad led a small group of conspirators to capture the al-Dumayr air base, 40 kilometers (25mi) north-east of Damascus the only unit that resisted the coup. In the underground hangar that our plane returned to, Brig. I cant remember him ever hugging me on any other occasion but this time he was all smiles. Come to think of it the court of history. US carries out additional airstrikes in Syria following rocket - CNN The "War over Water", also the Battle over Water, was a series of confrontations between Israel and its Arab neighbors from November 1964 to May 1967 over control of water sources in the Jordan River drainage basin. We set out around 10:30 P.M., recalls Amir. He believed that the operational plans the IDF had formulated for attacking the plant had not yet matured sufficiently and did not ensure complete success. I looked at them. Later, somewhat larger forums were also convened. [39] Unsuccessful, he left the country for France in a self-imposed exile on 8 July. [13] While the Ba'ath Party was strong, its decision to recruit members from across society led to tribalism and clientelism within the party. [40][41] The Army Headquarters, personally defended by al-Hafiz, and the broadcast station were attacked, and the ensuing battle left hundreds of people dead, including several civilian bystanders. The company's analysts said the work and the presence of newly deployed helicopters suggested the base was gaining importance for the Syrian government and Russia as they sought to counter jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State (IS) in Homs province. They are the best in the world. [30], Pressure from consistent pro-Nasser demonstrations in northern Syria and Damascus and from pro-union Ba'athist leaders like Jamal al-Atassi, the Nasserists and the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM), coupled with the weakness of the Ba'athists at the popular level in Syria, led to unification efforts between the new government and the governments of Egypt and Iraq. In contrast to the Iraqi regional branch, the Syrian regional branch did not have mass support or a significant support base in the middle class. I see on the thermal system I have on the plane and also outside the bombs are hitting the structure. Only now, more than a decade later, has the military censor allowed the Israeli media to report the history of this affair and even that, still with restrictions. Is climate change killing Australian wine? In the background, of course, there was the historical memory of the Begin doctrine and the precedent of the bombing of the reactor in Iraq in 1981 (an operation in which MI chief Yadlin had been one of the eight pilots who carried out the attack). [5] The landownerpeasant alliance was based on class differences, and social antagonism between each other this would lead to the landowner's downfall. Immediately after the attack, Israel embarked on a diplomatic blitz that had been prepared in advance by the Prime Ministers Bureau, the Mossad, MI and the Foreign Ministry. When the IAEA wanted to visit the site, following reports of the attack and leaked allegations that it had actually been a nuclear reactor, the Syrians claimed there was nothing to see because there had been nothing there. Al-Hariri led a brigade from the Syrian front towards Israel, while Ba'athists were able to gain control of a second brigade stationed in Suwayda. WebUSS Shamal. Two explosive devices attached to the vehicle blew up as it passed under Jisr "We are assessing the results of the strike," he added. The spokesman also described the effectiveness of the US strike as "extremely low", saying only 23 missiles had reached Shayrat. This system remained unchanged until the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR). The greatest challenge, relates Col. At a distant and isolated site called Al Kibar, less than a kilometer west of the Euphrates River, the Cube aroused their interest in particular. Cheney, as usual the rapacious hawk, wanted the United States to attack and destroy the reactor as a public and deterrent message, a warning against the development of additional secret nuclear programs in other countries. However, an extensive action was liable to be perceived as a humiliation by President Assad and push him into a corner so that he would feel obliged to retaliate. [10] Of the 150 delegates to the founding congress of the Arab Ba'ath Party in 1947, the majority were either middle-class professionals or intellectuals. Olmert implored Bush and Cheney to attack nevertheless, and argued that such a move would also help deter Iran. The operation was approved unanimously and at the armys recommendation the limited air attack option was chosen. The planes took off from Ramon and Hatzerim and headed northward along the shore of the Mediterranean, with ample use of electronic warfare as camouflage. Othmans negligence turned out to be the worst security offense in the history of Syria. For the coup to be successful, the military committee needed to gain the support of some of the Syrian officer corps. From the beginning, the military committee members formed state policies behind the backs of other NCRC members when the civilian leadership found out, al-Atrash said: "Why do not these gentlemen speak? As was its wont, Damascus denied everything, and the IAEA did nothing about all this despite Syrias blatant violation of a treaty to which it was a signatory. Western intelligence sources told the Washington Post in 2015 that General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had been with Mughniyeh in Damascus that night, but somehow he did not die in the blast that killed the Lebanese terrorist. The move was denied by the Russian defence ministry, but further satellite images taken at the end of March 2016 showed several Ka-52 Alligator and Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters had also arrived, according to IHS Jane's. The prime minister dwelled in particular on the meaning of life in Israel under the shadow of a nuclear threat and warned that this was a condition that was liable to cause profound demoralization of Israels populace. Then, even if Livni were to replace him as prime minister, Barak would lead the Syria operation and take all the credit. A large, cubical building that was still under construction in the heart of the Syrian desert, not far from Deir al-Zour, was a focus of the Israeli defense establishment starting from the end of 2006. Accordingly, the Arab states have to prepare the plans necessary for dealing with the political, economic and social aspects, so that if necessary results are not achieved, collective Arab military preparations, when they are not completed, will constitute the ultimate practical means for the final liquidation of Israel.[5]. The year before, he commanded the mission to kidnap two Israeli army reservists on the northern Israeli border near Zarit that triggered the Second Lebanon War. Several branches had not followed orders and had not dissolved during the UAR years. There was a crazy high all around him, said one of those who were present. [4] Agricultural revenues were highly skewed the top two percent of the population received 50 percent of the income, while the middle class (merchants or middle landowning groups), which was 18 percent of the population, earned 25 percent of agricultural revenues. In mid-August, Olmert convened a dramatic cabinet meeting to discuss the implications of the attack. In early November 2015, just over a month after launching an air campaign against Mr Assad's opponents, the Russian military reportedly began using Shayrat as a forward operating base for Mi-24 and Mi-35 attack helicopters. Some two-thirds of peasants were landless. The new chief of staff initiated a process of rehabilitation but when he was shown the findings from Othmans computer, Ashkenazi realized that he was facing a series of problems completely different from what he had been preparing for: how to get rid of the new threat in a way that would not spark a new war with Syria and Hezbollah and if a war did break out how to ensure that the IDF would win this time. There is no reason for anyone to be in this area except for herdsmen. Meir Dagan was skeptical about the findings; Syria was not a top priority for Mossad activity and the assessment did not constitute a breakthrough in the gathering of substantial proof. According to the report, Ibrahim Othman, head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, had come to Austria to participate in the deliberations of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Web8 Sep 2022 Israels bombing of Syrias Aleppo International Airport on Tuesday was the second time it had been attacked in less than a week. In the course of the examination, the researchers identified the Cube. Syria Russia launches pre-dawn missile attack on Ukraine, Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave Sudan. It isnt there any more.. Husni al-Za'im became the first military dictator of Syria in 1949, but in 1950, military officer Adib Shishakli gained power behind the scenes, and by 1953 had established another military dictatorship. [18], The growth of the new middle class in Syria fueled discontent since the traditional elite dominated the agrarian sector the largest sector of the economy and created most of the wealth. When he turned on the ignition of his jeep, it blew up. Gates and some of Bushs advisers believed that an attack should be left in Israels hands. He is usually a pretty reserved person. The trio met just before 6:00 P.M. in a room adjacent to the government meeting room, heard Ashkenazi, Dagan and Yadlin, and afterward remained with just the chief of staff. I was very much in agreement with the decision to attack, even though it was with a heavy heart., Ashkenazi went back to the General Command building in Tel Aviv. DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Two bombs attached to a bus carrying Syrian troops exploded in Damascus during the It was decided to attack but to authorize a small forum the trio of Olmert, Barak and Livni to decide upon the timing of the attack and the nature of the operation. It is especially surprising that this is also the story of a secret that was maintained for a long time here in Israel despite the considerable personal interests of a number of those who are now involved in its publication. The tension is liable to lead to an unplanned deterioration in the situation, and in order to prepare for that possibility the IDF must increase its level of readiness. In his memoirs, Bush wrote that following Haydens assessment, he told Olmert at their meeting on June 19 that he could not justify an American attack on a sovereign state. The purges prompted the protest resignations of Nasserist officials, including Defense Minister al-Sufi, Deputy Chief of Staff al-Qutayni, and four other Nasserist cabinet members. An estimated three thousand families owned half of the land in Syria. Olmert quoted one of Assads speeches from early June in which the Syrian president predicted that toward the end of the summer there would be a development that would completely change the reality of the Middle East. In the pictures, the inside of the reactor is visible, and in it are fusion cylinders and bars and also some Korean workers. We were able to say with certainty: This reactor is intended to produce plutonium and for military purposes only, says Yadlin. By then, Mughniyeh was dead. Amir, one of the F-15 pilots who took part in the attack, was dual: to advance the operation without most of the crews knowing what it was about and at the same time to prepare the rest of the squadron for the possibility that as a result of the operation, hostilities might break out, and all this while this group was not privy to preparations for the attack itself. "Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat airfield, reducing the Syrian government's ability to deliver chemical weapons.". Mar 23, 2018. In the preparations for the operation, we practiced ways of arriving, implementation, routes, distances, without telling the pilots and the navigators who were taking part what the target was. On 9 March, the NCRC ordered Salah al-Din al-Bitar, one of the Ba'ath Party founders, to form a government, and to implement the policies of the NCRC. According to reports in the American media, his assassination was a join Mossad-CIA operation in revenge for Mughniyehs role in hijacking a TWA airliner in Beirut in 1985, and for attacking U.S. Marines in Lebanon two years earlier. The politicians were waiting in suspense for the final report, which was due to be published in January 2008. Despite the shadow of failure in Lebanon, if all these claims are true, the Olmert administration demonstrated an aggressive and particularly active line against the nuclear threat and against the threats of terrorism and guerrilla warfare in neighboring countries. [1] The issue of water sharing from the JordanYarmuk system turned out to be a major problem between Israel, Syria and Jordan. As head of the Bureau of Officers' Affairs, Jadid appointed friends to senior positions, purged his enemies and appointed several Ba'athists to senior positions. [18], In Syria, religious minorities were often underprivileged, and a specific ethnicity usually belonged to a specific social class. WebA U.S. official told ABC News that there were two new attacks late Friday on two U.S. facilities in Deir ez-Zor Province in eastern Syria after another one earlier in the day and Olmert conducted himself in this affair with courage and skill and did not shy away from making decisions. The revolution was led by an anti-oligarchical alliance of a radicalised lower middle class, strategic members of the officer corps, marginalised minorities and a significant number of peasants who were mobilised for agrarian conflict. [19] The new middle class alone could only produce instability, but together with the peasantry, the revolution became possible. Barak also thought an attack could embroil Israel in a war with Syria, in which it would again become clear that the IDF and the home front were not properly prepared.