Agence France-Presse,
Israel does not want a war with arch-foe Syria, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday after a meeting of the powerful security cabinet that focused on Damascus.
But Olmert also repeated his warning that “miscalculation” could spark hostilities between the two neighbours, which broke off peace talks seven years ago over the fate of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
“Israel does not want a war with Syria,” Olmert was quoted by his office as saying after the meeting, adding that this message had been passed to Damascus through various diplomatic channels.
But Olmert also warned: “We must avoid miscalculations that are liable to lead to a security deterioration.”
The cabinet met a day after the military staged war games, including a simulated attack on a Syrian village and another that simulated a surprise attack by Syrian commandos on the occupied Golan Heights.
Olmert, however, imposed a blackout on any further details on the meeting.
The Israeli press has been filled with speculation that war could break out in the coming months after weeks of Israeli intelligence reports warning that Damascus was preparing for a conflict.
Defence Minister Amir Peretz, asked by army radio about the possibility of a conflict, said “the army must be ready to face any degradation” on the Syrian front.
Peretz, who has faced calls for his resignation over last year's war in Lebanon against the Syrian-backed Hezbollah militia, said Israel's military presence on the Syrian front had been beefed up for 10 months on his orders.
But he added: “This does not reflect aggressive intentions against Syria,” and called for Israel to “do everything to check whether it's possible to open negotiations.”
Olmert has for the moment rejected overtures by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to restart peace talks, saying Damascus had to first stop supporting militant groups like Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The Israeli intelligence community is reportedly divided over whether the recent Syrian peace overtures are genuine or a decoy to relieve the US-led international pressure on Damascus.
While the head of the army intelligence research department Yossi Baidatz believes Damascus's moves are sincere, the head of the Mossad secret service Meir Dagan thinks they are a scheme, media have reported.
The head of military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, argues that Israel should try to restart talks with Syria to exhaust the option, although he does not believe that Damascus is sincere in its overtures.
Olmert is expected to discuss the Syrian issue with US President George W. Bush when the two leaders meet in Washington on June 19.
An Israeli delegation currently in Washington, headed by former defence secretary and army chief Shaul Mofaz, is holding talks with the Americans on Iran and Syria.
The US government accuses Syria of aiding anti-US insurgents in Iraq, trying to topple the pro-Western government in Lebanon and backing rejectionist Palestinian groups.
US-brokered peace talks between Israel and Syria collapsed in 2000 over the return of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured 40 years ago during the Six Day war and annexed in 1981.
In a statement marking the anniversary of the 1967 war, Syria's official Ath-Thawra newspaper said on Monday that the return of the Golan was an an “inalienable right” and that it believed Israel was neither willing nor capable of making peace.
More than 15,000 Israelis have settled there while more than 18,000 Syrians, mostly Druze, live in the area. The vast majority have refused to take Israeli citizenship.
Syria appealed to the United Nations on Wednesday to help ease the plight of one of 15 of its nationals detained in Israel.
Sitane Wali, who is originally from the Golan Heights, is in ailing health and “inhuman conditions”, the SANA news agency reported, quoting a foreign ministry memorandum sent to various UN agencies.
