Shortly after midnight on September 6, 2007, bombs destroyed Syria’s almost-finished al-Kibar nuclear reactor. The international community was never able to account for the facility’s equipment or Syria’s nuclear materials. No one claimed responsibility at the time of the attack, but the world suspected Israel. Sure enough, just last week – more than a decade later – Israel fessed up.
Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said, “Israel will never accept an existential threat against it. That was the message in 2007, and that is the message to our enemies in both the near and distant future.” This may also explain Syria’s heightened rage towards Israel over the last 11 years.
The Strike Thwarted ISIS Nuclear Capabilities
Emphasizing Eisenkot’s resolve, the terror group ISIS overran Syria in 2011. From 2014 until 2017, ISIS maintained control of the area once housing the reactor. Many believe Israel’s strike saved the world from a nuclear ISIS, which could have spread its destruction worldwide by cooking up dirty bombs.
“When faced with today’s reality, the decision to destroy the reactor is one of the best decisions made in Israel over the past 70 years,” said Lt. Gen. Amikam Norkin, commander of the Israeli Air Force (IAF). “The principles according to which the IAF prepared for the attack are also the IAF’s principles today.”
The North Korea Connection
Important questions remain unanswered. Who has been hiding those missing al-Kibar nuclear materials all this time? Why did Israel claim responsibility for the attack 10 years later? Many eyes have turned toward North Korea. According to the Jewish Policy Center, “Post-attack analysis highlighted North Korea’s connection to al-Kibar.” They noted troubling similarities between the Syrian facility and North Korea’s reactor in Yongbyon. Hours after Israel acknowledged the attack, a Washington-based think tank inserted alarming speculation into the conversation. The Institute for Science and International Security released a report urging an investigation into a 2015 article in Germany’s weekly news magazine Der Spiegel.
Der Spiegel’s editorial claimed that North Korea helped Syria hide the equipment and materials from al-Kibar. Further, North Korea may be helping Syria construct an underground nuclear reactor that intelligence officials believe they discovered.
Iranian Connection
The report went on to suggest an Iranian connection to this new nuclear base. Eight years after the Syrian reactor attack, in 2015, the United States led the Iran Nuclear Deal with the United Nations which, in effect, offered billions in tax payer dollars and other incentives for Iran to agree to not build nuclear weapons. Of course, other nations were not in on the deal and not subject to scrutiny. The answer has always been simple: take American tax dollars and build weapons elsewhere. Of course, now, the United States is abandoning the Iranian deal under President Trump and North Korea is abandoning its nuclear aim towards South Korea. Through this abandonment, Iran, who consistently lied through their part of the “deal” increased its rage against its true adversary, Israel. But Israel stands firm as the greatest defense system in the Middle East. It is untold the millions of lives saved by that midnight strike over 11 years ago – Israeli and beyond. One strike saves all.
Source: Jewish Voice
