Israel admits bombing ‘Syrian N-site’ in 2007

JERUSALEM / Reuters

Israel for the first time admitted that it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 and said on Wednesday the strike should be a warning to Iran that it would not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
The Israeli military released previously classified cockpit footage, photographs and intelligence documents about its September 6, 2007, air strike on the Al-Kubar facility near Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria. It said the reactor was being built with help from North Korea and the facility had been months away from activation. Reuters has been unable to immediately verify the Israeli material.
Israel’s decision to go public comes after repeated calls in recent months by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the United States and
international community to take tougher action on Iran. Israel’s intelligence minister, Israel Katz, said on Twitter: “The (2007) operation and its success made clear that Israel will never allow nuclear weaponry to be in the hands of those who threaten its existence — Syria then, and Iran today.”
The Israeli military described in detail events leading up to the night of Sept 5-6, 2007, in which, it said, eight warplanes, F-16s and F-15s, carried out the mission after taking off from the Ramon and Hatzerim air bases and flying to Deir al-Zor region, 450 km northwest of Damascus. Eighteen tonnes of munitions were dropped on the site, it said.
In his 2010 memoir “Decision Points,” former US President George W. Bush disclosed that he discussed intelligence about the Syrian facility with then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before it was destroyed but did not give him the green light for the raid.
James Jeffrey, Bush’s deputy national security adviser, said on Wednesday the former US president had been “absolutely supportive” of Israel. “(He) made it clear that we were very happy that events had eliminated this threat and that if there were any threats to Israel that would emerge from this situation, the United States would stand with Israel, period,” Jeffrey told Israel’s Army Radio.
In 2008 the United States presented what it described as intelligence showing that North Korea had helped Syria with “covert nuclear activities.”