April 04, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 26, 1429

JERUSALEM, April 3: Israel on Thursday played down media reports of heightened tension along the Syrian border, insisting there was little likelihood of military confrontation between the two neighbours.

“Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, and the latter says only it is ready to respond to any attack, so the risk of a military confrontation is very low,” said Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon.

His comments came as Israeli newspapers splashed front-page stories claiming the military was on high alert after Syria reportedly boosted its deployment near the border and called up reserves.

The Jerusalem Post said increased tension along the frontier, as well as in the Gaza Strip, led Defence Minister Ehud Barak to cancel a planned visit to Germany, though a spokesman said the decision was linked to a planned home front defence exercise next week.

Spokesman Shlomo Dror said that Syria has staged military manoeuvres and made other preparations for possible confrontation in the event Hezbollah seeks to avenge the Feb 12 killing in Damascus of its military leader Imad Mugnieh, which the militia blames on Israel.

But Ramon, a close ally of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Hezbollah was well aware that “if they react too strongly, we will also react harshly.”

“I don’t know if they will react or not, but we must do everything in our power to thwart such a retaliation and to thwart their ability to avenge,” he said at a conference in Tel Aviv.

Yedioth Ahronoth claimed there were increasing signs that an attack could take place soon.

“And the more these signs accumulate — unusual movements, meetings between various figures, information from all sorts of sources — the more the temperature rises,” the daily wrote.

The London-based Al Quds al-Arabi reported on Wednesday that Syria had deployed three armoured divisions and nine infantry brigades near the border with Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, fearing Israeli infiltration.

But General Dan Harel, Israel’s deputy chief of staff, also dismissed the likelihood of confrontation with Syria.

“Neither of the two parties wants such a conflict,” he said. But he added that Israel would respond with a heavy hand to any attack — a warning top Israeli officials have voiced with increasing regularity over recent days.

“What is certain is that Israel is the most powerful country in the region and that our response to any aggression would be very tough,” Harel said.

Hirsh Goodman, of the Institute for National Security Studies, said the situation could easily get out of hand if a war of words escalates. “Therefore, Israel and Syria are doing what they can to ease the tension,” he said.

Ramon stressed that Israel remained interested in holding talks with Damascus, but he did not have high hopes this would be possible soon.

“I believe, unfortunately, that the ability to hold talks with Syria, at least in the near future, is extremely limited if it exists at all,” he said in Tel Aviv.

“Unfortunately that country is deeply anchored in its relations with the axis of evil of Iran and Hezbollah,” he added.

—AFP