Israei Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the US-Russia understandings to remove Syria’s chemical weapons ‘’will bear fruit and that they be judged by their results, the full destruction of all chemical weapons stores held by the Syrian regime, weapons it has used against its own civilians,’’ before meeting on Sunday in Jerusalem with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Speaking at a ceremony marking 40 years since the Yom Kippur war, he added : ‘’We must also judge the results of the efforts of the international community to stop Iran's nuclear armament. Here as well, it is not words that will determine the outcome, but rather actions and results. In any case, Israel must be ready and willing to defend itself by itself against any enemy, and this ability and willingness is as important today as ever.’’
Kerry briefed the Israeli leader on the agrement he reached in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday calling for Syrian President Bashar Assad to account for his chemical arsenal within a week and let international inspectors eliminate it all by the middle of 2014.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Netanyahu, said the deal on Syria had "disadvantages and advantages."
"On the one hand, it lacks the necessary speed (in removing chemical arms from Syria). On the other hand, it is much more comprehensive, as it includes a Syrian commitment to dismantle the manufacturing facilities and to never again produce (chemical weapons)," he told the Army Radio.
Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomed the deal, saying that Syrian President Bashar Assad “has no choice but to accept the commitment” and that the possibility of US military action if the plan fails should “teach a lesson” to Iran.
According to Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, the US-Russia agreement’’ is good news for Israel’’ but the newspaper asks : ‘’ "How could anyone be sure that Assad will have shown the inspectors all of the weapons at his disposal?". The paper doubts whether the Russians will ever approve the use of force or even sanctions or that the Americans will attack Syria should, say, the inspectors be refused entry to a particular installation.
Israel Hayom daily notes that ‘’if the agreement is carried out as planned,Israel's strategic situation will greatly improve and the axis of evil that leads from Tehran through Damascus to Beirut with backing from Moscow will be weakened."
However, the paper cautions that, "The slaughter in our northern neighbor will not end."