A senior official close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed wary support for a proposal by Russia that suggests placing Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel’s Army Radio that the implementation of the plan should require that Moscow “guarantee Syria is cleansed of chemical weaponry.
“I cannot say that we have full faith, but if this Russian proposal ... will really remove the chemical weaponry from Syria, first of all, and will then dismantle it ... then this is a way to end this tragedy and a way to end this threat too,” Steinitz said.
The news comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due to meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss the Syrian crisis.
Israel has largely avoided public comment since the alleged chemical gas attack near Damascus on Aug. 21.
Netanyahu on Wednesday demanded President Bashar al-Assad government be “stripped of its chemical weapons” but stopped short of specifically endorsing the Russian proposal, which has been accepted by Damascus.
The remarks by Steinitz suggested that Israel would want any consensual decommissioning of Syria's chemical arsenal to be expedited by sending it abroad first.
(With Reuters)
Also Read
-
Iran: strike on Syria may trigger attack on Israel
Iran has issued a thinly veiled threat to Israel, saying that in the event of a U.S. attack on Iranian ally Syria some groups may retaliate by ... Middle East -
Israeli official: U.S. would notify Israel hours before Syria attack
The United States would notify Israel hours in advance of an attack on Syria, an Israeli Official said on Sunday. While formally on the sidelines of ... Middle East -
Israel deploys iron dome system near Jerusalem
Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system near Jerusalem Sunday, an AFP correspondent said, as the United States lobbied for domestic and ... Home Page
