Jerusalem – Report: Israel’s “Silent Strike” On Syria

Jerusalem – As Israel continues to contemplate a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, The New Yorker (http://nyr.kr/NkuCYI) has published a piece, out today, concerning Israel’s 2007 secret strike against Syria’s plutonium nuclear reactor.

In the article, David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, writes that upon breaking into the home of Syria’s Atomic Agency Director Ibrahim Othman in Vienna, Mossad agents found some 40 color photographs of a large structure being built by the Assad regime in the northeastern desert region of Syria near Al-Kibar.

The photos showed North Korean workers in the facility, and the design of the building confirmed it was, in fact, a nuclear reactor similar to the one built by the North Koreans in Yongbyo. Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan shared this new intelligence with then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert informed his intelligence and security personnel, as well as Israel’s previous prime ministers – Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu. All those involved in the discussions were forced to sign a secrecy agreement.

Olmert determined that Israel had to bomb the reactor in accordance with the policy set forth by Menachem Begin in 1981 to never allow an enemy country to acquire a nuclear weapon. The mission was dubbed Operation Orchard. Olmert notified President Bush of Mossad’s findings, but Bush, who was still reeling from bad intelligence concerning Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, was wary of action against Syria. “Gotta be secret, and gotta be sure,” Mr. Bush allegedly said of Israel’s information. A CIA task force was created to “compare handheld photographs of the site with overheads taken by American satellites.” The two sets of pictures were a match.

Israel feared a delayed strike would allow the reactor to become active, and could cause the Euphrates River to become contaminated. But President Bush opted not to pursue military action based on the CIA’s recommendation. Former CIA director Michael Hayden told the president that “Al Kibar was part of a nuclear weapons program” and that “we could conceive of no alternative uses for the facility.” But Hayden cautioned that the CIA “could not identify the other essentials of a weapons program” and therefore, “characterized this finding as low confidence.”

With the United States out of the picture, Olmert decided to act unilaterally and quickly. He notified the White House and Britain that the strike had been planned, but did not disclose the exact timing. On September 5, 2007, the order was given, and just before midnight, eight fighter jets – four F-16s and four F15s – flew to the Syrian-Turkish border. Pilots used electronic devices to jam up Syria’s early warning signals, and between 12:40 AM and 12:53 AM, Israeli pilots dropped seventeen tons of explosives on the reactor, destroying it. All of the pilots returned to their bases unharmed. Olmert called President Bush to inform him. “I just want to report to you that something that existed doesn’t exist anymore,” Olmert said. “It was done with complete success.”

Five years later, Syria continues to deny that the destroyed facility was meant for nuclear purposes and claims Israel destroyed “an unused military building.” Syria never retaliated in keeping with its denial about the reality of the reactor. Israel has never confirmed that it was responsible for the bombing.

Makovsky writes that the situation with Iran is markedly different from the one with Syria because of the risk of civilian casualties and retaliation. Moreover, Iran’s facility is located well underground outside the city of Qom, and is heavily protected. An attack on Iran comes with a greater risk of failure. “Worse comes to worse, and all options have been tried, then, naturally, it [Iran] may force Israel to act to defend its existence,” Olmert has said. “But it must be clear that we tried with the international community, and particularly with the United States, to act together before we resort to the last option of an Israeli military operation.”