Israeli government divided over Syria

The Israeli newspaper Haartez reported on Thursday about a division within Israel's diplomatic view over the incidents in Syria between the Ministry of Exterior, headed by Lieberman, who called for Assad’s departure, and PM Netanyahu who preferred ambiguity, an attitude shared by the Security Minister Ehud Barak. Haartez quoted a senior source in the Israeli Ministry of Exterior as saying that a professional crew has recently issued a recommendation warning that the ethical role of Israel makes it imperative to denounce what the newspaper described as a ‘massacre’ in Syria, calling for the resignation of Bashar Al-Assad to stop the crackdown. Israeli Ministry of Exterior believes that the Israeli stance should be consistent with that of the US, European and Arab, in order not to be accused of willingness to keep Assad’s regime in place. On the other hand, Netanyahu explained that if Israel called for the Assad’s departure, it would promote conspiracy theories and would create the impression that it wants Assad to step down, giving him a pretext to claim that Israel is behind the unrest in Syria. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official joined the debate on the matter by saying that he supports Netanyahu’s approach, which represents the best response by not responding, as Syria is seeking to provoke Israel through Hezbollah and other parties. Another Israeli official said the government should be cautious at this stage. He added that the stance might change in the future, considering that Israel has adopted a more decisive position through the diplomatic channels. He pointed that "when we are asked by France or US, we should answer that it is better that Assad resigns. However, Israel should not launch a public campaign against him."