Israeli President Shimon Peres said he was skeptical the Syrian government could be trusted to surrender its chemical weapons under a Russian-backed proposal to avert a US military strike.
“I’m not sure the world will trust the Syrians as a real partner,” Peres told Israeli journalists.
He said ‘’there will be tough negotiations, because at least one partner is not trustworthy and their acceptance means very little.”
Russia said it had urged its Syrian allies to give up their chemical weapons arsenal to avoid a US attack as a punitive measure after the August 21 chemical weapons attack the Obama administration blames on the Syrian regime.
US President Barack Obama said Tuesday night in a televised address to the nation that given Syria's offer to give up its chemical weapons, he's asked the leaders of Congress to postpone their vote on a military intervention.
The administration will work with its allies in the United Nations, he said, to put forward a resolution requiring Assad to give up the weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top cabinet ministers have maintained a strict silence about both a U.S. military action against Syria and the Russian proposal. Instead, they have spoken repeatedly of Israel’s ability to defend itself against possible retaliation following any military action in Syria.
But former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, currently chairman of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) foreign affairs and defense committee, said that “Assad is winning time and lots of it,” a a result of Russia's proposal.
Comparing the situation to that of Iran’s nuclear program, he noted that the Syrian leader could use the initiative to “buy time” and stall any real international involvement, military or other.
He also warned the Syrians not to drag Israel into the conflict. ‘’Assad must understand that he and his associates will become a legitimate target, if he drags Israel into the conflict," he said.
“Israel will respond in the harshest possible manner, even to the point of toppling” the Assad government,’’ he said, while adding that “Israel’s paramount interest is to remain outside the conflict.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon also declared that anyone who would drag Israel into the Syrian conflict will draw a “harsh” response and pay a “heavy” price.
But Labor politician and former minister Isaac Herzog thinks that the US must take action in Syria to send a message that Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons cannot be tolerated.
Herzog, who has built close ties with figures in the Syrian opposition over the past two years, declared: “I can understand the president’s need to get support from Congress, but as an Israeli leader, there are moments when you don’t have any choice,” he said. “If the rogue states see that nothing will happen after Assad slaughters his own people with chemical weapons, the message will be that there is no world order.”
Speaking at an Israel Bar Association convention in Herzliya, Livni said mere rhetoric from the UN was not enough at this stage.
“The UN, whose motto since its first day has been ‘never again,’ must intervene,” Livni said. “It is not enough to make heartwarming speeches. [The UN] must also struggle for such values with its actions. The events taking place in Syria must be stopped while they’re still small.”
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz agreed with Livni in his remarks at a rally in Samaria.
"We are living in a region in which everything is stormy and we are an island of serenity and security in the heart of the region," Katz said. "In a reality of massacres and blood as Muslims slaughter Muslims and [peace] plans come and go, we have no choice but to rely on the Rock of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.
Science, Technology, and Space Minister Ya'acov Peri criticized America's handling of Syria at Haifa University's business forum.
"We can give our handling of the Syrian situation a good grade," Peri said. "Unlike on the Iranian issue on which ministers and former security officials have talked too much, on Syria the system has been well thought out. This is sign of maturity. There is no dispute that the butcher in Damascus is killing people and not just with chemical weapons. He used chemical weapons in the past. I can't give my opinion on how a superpower is managing the crisis in Syria but I might have handled it differently."
Envoys from the five permanent UN Security Council member states will meet in New York on Wednesday to discuss plans to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control, diplomats said.