JERUSALEM — Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, currently touring the Middle East for the first time in his new role, was confronted with Israeli evidence that Syria may have deployed chemical weapons against rebel troops.
A senior Israeli intelligence official, Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, told a security conference Tuesday that "in our assessment, the (Syrian) regime has used, and is using, chemical weapons."
Israel has warned it will take action if it discovers Syria has transferred chemical weapons to "hostile forces," an apparent reference to Hezbollah or jihadi militias battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but it has never issued warnings regarding the regime’s use of such weapons against the rebels.
However, the United States has issued such warnings: President Barack Obama cautioned the Assad regime in a speech last month, "We will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people. … The world is watching, and we will hold you accountable."
Gen. Brun, who heads the research department of Military Intelligence, said the Syrian army had used lethal chemicals, probably based on Sarin nerve gas, against rebels "on a number of occasions". Photographs, he said, had shown victims foaming from the mouth and with decreased pupil size, signs of a chemical attack.
Brun said the absence of international condemnation "could signal that such use is legitimate." His remarks are the first time an Israeli official has given backing to charges of chemical warfare emanating from Syria.
Hagel said two days ago that U.S. intelligence agencies are still assessing whether chemical weapons were used in Syria. "The Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons would be a game changer," he said. There was no immediate American reaction to Brun’s statement.
The aim of Hagel’s visit was to coordinate the positions of Jerusalem and Washington, particularly on Iran, and to assure Israel of America’s support by an infusion of weaponry.
This includes tankers for midair refueling, which would help sustain an attack on Iran by the Israeli air force, as well as the V-22 Osprey, an aircraft capable of vertical lift-off like a helicopter and the high-speed flight of a conventional aircraft. The Osprey could be useful for rescuing downed pilots in Iran or for inserting special forces behind Hezbollah lines if war breaks out with Lebanon.
Israeli commentators see Washington's gift as coming with strings attached.
"The military and diplomatic aid from the United States, which is slated to grow, will also require Jerusalem to coordinate fully with Washington in the most sensitive matter, the handling of the Iranian nuclear threat," wrote Ha’artez’s military correspondent Amos Harel. "[This] will limit Israel's ability to act independently on this issue despite the lip service paid by Hagel and U.S. President Barack Obama a month before him to Israel's right to act independently to protect itself."