A RETIRED Israeli general has publicly warned the government against attacking Syria amid indications that Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, may be preparing for a short, sharp offensive.

In a letter to an Israeli newspaper published last week Major-General Shlomo Gazit, the former head of military intelligence, expressed misgivings about the threats against Syria. He cited, in particular, a recent incident when Israeli planes buzzed the palace of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

“For several weeks now Israel has been inciting and humiliating Damascus,” Gazit wrote. “It’s only a matter of time until the Syrians are unable to hold back and then the big blaze will begin.”

Relations between Israel and Syria, long tense, hit a low last month after Israeli F-16 jets dropped satellite-guided bombs on an empty Palestinian training base near Damascus in the the first assault on the country’s soil in 30 years. The Syrians vowed to retaliate if it happened again.

Signs of further Israeli action to follow have been accumulating, however. Military sources claimed targets had been marked for possible attack after a terrorist group in Damascus said it killed two Israeli soldiers near Bethlehem last week. “An Israeli airstrike on Syria is not a question of ‘if’ but rather of ‘when’,” said one high-ranking Israeli officer.

Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon, chief of staff of the Israeli armed forces, also hinted at further action against Syria in a speech last Sunday at Tel Aviv University. “If Syria continues to ignore the message that Israel and other countries have sent, it may be necessary to send further messages of a different nature,” he said.

The same day, eight Israeli F-15 jets crossed the international border with Lebanon, flew over Beirut and the 25,000 Syrian forces troops in northern Lebanon.

Such gestures have not been wasted on the Syrians. Abd al-Halim Khaddam, a vice-president, accused Israel last week of “waging psychological warfare” against his country. The next day the Israelis sent their jets once again to fly over the Syrian forces in Lebanon.

Sources close to Sharon said he had been convinced by his hawkish generals that Israel should strike Syria and destroy rockets hidden in southern Lebanon that are controlled by Iranian soldiers.

Gazit is concerned that Israel may be underestimating Syria’s military capability — and overestimating its ability to destroy all its neighbour’s ballistic missiles.

“The Syrians possess hundreds of ballistic missiles with conventional, maybe also chemical, warheads which cover all of Israel,” he said.

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