Israel ‘Furious’ as White House Confirms Latest Syria Attack

Israeli Analysts Accuse US of Trying to Start Regional War

Israeli officials are once again “furious” with the Obama Administration today after yesterday’s White House confirmation that Israel was responsible for the Wednesday attack on Syria’s port city of Latakia.

The strike targeted a Syrian air base on Wednesday evening, and the White House confirmed it was an Israeli attack to CNN the following morning. Israeli officials say they don’t believe Syria will retaliate for the attack.

But analysts on Israeli TV stations expressed concern that now that there was a public acknowledgement of Israeli culpability in the attack, it could start a regional war, and it would be the White House’s fault for spilling the beans.

Of course, Syria would’ve already known who was responsible, and with Lebanon confirming hours of overflights by Israeli warplanes heading in the direction of Latakia, it wasn’t a big secret to anyone else either. The White House confirmation seems rather an attempt by the US to distance itself from the attack ahead of peace talks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.