Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, during his weekly cabinet meeting, that Israel stands fully behind the decision by the United States to attack Syria, in which the US Navy fired more than 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airfield from where the Syrian Air Force launched an airstrike that allegedly carried deadly chemical components. Netanyahu stressed the American military reaction was necessary, to make it clear to all “that there is a price (to pay) for the use of chemical weapons.” “Israel fully supports the American attack in Syria. We do it out of moral reasons in the face of the horrible sights from Idlib and also to make clear that there is a price for the use of chemical weapons,” said Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu urged the international community to fulfill its obligation to disarm Syria of its remaining chemical weapons stockpiles, an obligation under UN Security Council Resolution 2118, declaring it an opportunity for Washington and Moscow to cooperate in the specific field. “There is an international commitment from 2013 to remove all chemical weapons from Syria. As we’ve seen, this commitment is yet to be fully implemented. We call on the international community to finish the job, and this is an opportunity for an American-Russian cooperation in this specific field. It must be completed,” added Netanyahu.
The American strike on Syria, however, has escalated tensions between Washington and Moscow. Russia strongly condemned the United States, declaring its strike on Syria as illegal, and warned the move would further damage the already battered US-Russia relations. Even though the United States reportedly informed Russian forces ahead of the strikes to avoid hitting its military personnel operating in the war-torn-country, lawmakers in Russia said the US had violated international law, and is risking another “Cuban Missile Crisis” style nuclear war.
“What relates to the chemical attack, it is all lies, there was no chemical attack (by government forces) and it could not have happened due to the current situation in Syria. Chemical weapons were taken from Syria a long time ago, and the Americans know this because it was transported under their control. This is an excuse for the U.S. to interfere in the Syrian conflict directly.” / “This act goes far beyond just Syria because, clearly, Russia supports the legal Syrian government and takes part to a certain scale in this conflict. Therefore, such strikes are an act not just against Syria, but also against Russia. Moreover, when Americans were striking the airport they didn’t know if our citizens were there or not. So, this situation may lead at least to a repetition of the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ which almost pushed the world onto the edge of a nuclear war,” said Mikhail Yemelyanov, Russian State Duma lawmaker.
Russia continues to maintain its position, in which the Syrian government airstrike targeted rebels’ weapons caches that contained chemical weapons, was the reason the deadly outcome, in which more than 80 people were killed, including more than a dozen children. Moscow also cited the fact, in which the weapons targeted by the Syrian government were of the Al-Qaeda linked group, Jabhat Fattah al Sham.
The United States rejected Russia’s position, laying the blame for the Chemical attack on the Syrian government. In an exclusive interview to NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ with US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, the American diplomat declared that peace in Syria would not be possible if its President Bashar Assad would remain in power.
“When this chemical weapons murder happened to so many people, Russia’s reaction was not, ‘Oh, how horrible,’ or, ‘How could they do this to innocent children,’ or, ‘How awful is that?’ Their initial reaction was, ‘Assad didn’t do it. The Syrian government didn’t do it,’. Why were they that defensive that quick? The idea of the casualties came after. The first priority for them was to cover for Assad.” / “In no way do we look at peace happening in that area with Iranian influence. In no way do we see peace in that area with Russian covering up for Assad. In no way do we see peace in that area with Assad as the head of the Syrian government. And we have to make sure that we’re pushing that process. The political solution has to come together for the good of the people of Syria,” said Haley.
The deteriorating relations between the United States and Russia come as Washington’s top diplomat Rex Tillerson is due to make his first visit to Moscow this week as US secretary of state. The visit is an eagerly awaited event in Russia where politicians have been anxious to try to use the change of administration in Washington to reboot relations between the two world powers.