Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first public comments on Israel's 2007 bombing of a suspected Syrian atomic reactor, said on Wednesday Israel was determined to prevent its enemies from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Reiterating his pledge to safeguard Israel from an existential threat, Netanyahu warned: "The government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad prevented Syria from developing a nuclear capability. For this they are deserving of all praise. Israel's policy has been and remains consistent – to prevent our enemies from arming themselves with nuclear weapons."
For more than 10 years Israel has stayed mum on the bombing of the nuclear reactor in eastern Syria by Netanyahu's predecessor, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. But this week, ahead of the publication of Olmert's memoirs, the Israeli Military Censor greenlighted the declassification of the details of the strike, which was the culmination of a sophisticated intelligence-gathering effort by Israeli agencies.
In what was code-named Operation Arizona, sometimes referred to in foreign media reports as Operation Orchard, eight F-15 fighter jets targeted the suspected nuclear reactor in Al-Kubar, in the Deir ez-Zor region in eastern Syria, on the night of Sept. 6, 2007. Although Israel was widely believed to have been behind the airstrike, over the past 10 years it has preferred to deny its involvement in order to avoid a Syrian retaliation and a larger escalation. This was the second time Israel has taken out a nuclear reactor in an Arab state, with the first strike being against Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that the attack proved that Israel would not shy away from taking action when it feels threatened.
"The historic and courageous decision we took once again proves that when it comes to national security we must not be deterred and have to remain loyal to our national interests," he said, adding that the had Israel not acted it would have been in a much more perilous situation. "Just imagine what the world would have looked like had we not acted; we would have had a nuclear Syria."
According to Lieberman, "our enemies' motivation has increased in recent years, but so has the IDF's prowess; the Israeli Air Force and our intelligence means have been bolstered immensely compared to what we had in 2007. Every Middle East prayer must internalize this."
Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon echoed Lieberman, saying, "Taking out of the Syrian reactor was a strategic and historic accomplishment."
Education Minister Naftali Bennett also praised the Israeli strike, quoting the Talmudic teaching that "if a man comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first."
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said that the "strike on the reactor is the essence of Israel's might: valuable intelligence, inter-service cooperation and precise execution."
Hatnuah leader Tzipi Livni, who was the foreign minister at the time of the operation, said, "Israel has always said that when it comes to our security we will act. It is part of Israel's deterrence, this is what we do, this is what we did, and this is something that all our enemies need to hear and see."
Meanwhile, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Avi Dichter (Likud), who was a member of the Diplomatic Security Cabinet in 2007, dismissed the reports that he was against the operation.
"I asked the prime minister to have two separate votes: the first, on whether the reactor should be destroyed, a measure I fully supported; and the second, on taking modus operandi that would reduce the likelihood of an all-out war. When Olmert decided to bring only one measure up to a vote [that combined the two], I voted 'no'," Dichter said.
Ehud Barak, who was defense minister at the time of the operation, elaborated Wednesday on the various intelligence efforts that allowed the daring strike. Speaking in New York he said the operation was "aimed at destroying a nuclear reactor which was built in the desert along the Euphrates River, very close to the river a desolate part of the country, by basically, a North Korean firm with North North Korean employees, based on the Yongbyon reactor, the one that we know from many years from North Korea. And we destroyed it." Barak said that "the readiness to take the risk paid [off]."
The head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate also spoke about the reactor on Wednesday, saying: "The Syrians wanted to keep it as secret as possible and I don't think they told about it to the Iranians. Even very senior figures, like the chief of staff and the defense minister in Syria had no idea about this project."
