BICOM

Israeli media are this morning reporting on suggestions in the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently visited Jordan’s King Abdullah in the country’s capital Amman to discuss common concerns over the situation in Syria.

Israel’s Channel Two said that the talks between the two leaders included a “very long discussion” about “cooperation with Jordan with regard to the fate of Syria’s chemical weapons.” Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and both countries border Syria. The original report in Al-Quds Al-Arabi suggested that Netanyahu had proposed the possibility of a precision air strike against President Assad’s chemical arsenal or a ground operation to take control of and neutralise Syria’s chemical stockpiles, although Jordan rejected both ideas.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office would not comment on the story, a spokesman told the Jerusalem Post “We are not relating to the report.” However, Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, have repeatedly warned against the danger of Syria’s chemical stockpile could fall into rogue hands, which could threaten Israel in the event of the collapse of the Assad regime.

Syria is believed to have the world’s third largest chemical arsenal and has in the past been a major source of weaponry for Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. Speaking to his cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said that necessary measures are being taken in conjunction with the international community “to prepare ourselves for the possibility of far-reaching changes in the [Syrian] regime, with implications for the sensitive weapons systems there.”