Tensions remain high in the Middle East two weeks after Israel reportedly bombed a suspected nuclear facility in Syria, and protests were voiced in Damascus and Tehran.
However, senior Israel Defence Force (IDF) sources told Jane's that the risk of war with Syria has diminished, although the fear of a Syrian response is still palpable.
While officially Israel has kept quiet about the 5 September air raid in northeast Syria, Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has broken the silence and provided a first public acknowledgment of the incident.
Asked during a television interview about the "operation that is so cloaked in secrecy", he responded: "I was privy to the matter from the outset and I gave my backing, but it is too early to be discussing this."
However, Netanyahu added that he had personally congratulated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the operation. Netanyahu's comments were widely criticised by Israeli politicians for providing an admission of the Israeli strike.
Faced with a resolution calling for a nuclear-free Middle East at the 51st International Atomic Energy Agency Conference in Vienna, Israeli Atomic Energy Commission chief Gideon Frank said Israel would not be able to ignore the efforts of various Middle Eastern countries to develop weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them.
