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"Iran's Long Range Missiles A Threat to Israel"

"The existential threat to Israel comes from nuclear projects and the long-range missiles that Iran is working on very seriously and diligently. This is the danger," said Israel's Deputy Minister of Defense, Efraim Sneh, who is very close to Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Sneh, a physician by profession and a General (Res.) in the Israeli Army, pointed out Israel's major problems in a recent interview with Channel 13's Charlie Rose, a popular 'talk show' personality. Sneh, answering many questions, said that he supports a Palestinian state: "We are going to divide the territory and have two states," but he stressed his condition: a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Does he really believe that the PLO will go along with this demand? "Assad is not interested in agreement. He's interested in dictating his terms to Israel." Sneh said answering Rose's questions as to the relations between Israel and Syria: "I think that in his list of priorities, achieving peace is not the first thing," Sneh concluded. How come this assessment was not born then before Ehud Barak went to Washington and was entrapped by Syria and the American pressures? Who managed to manipulate him into the so-called Syrian peace project? Then the Hizbullah used the momentum to attack Israel and killed 7 soldiers. Syria not only fooled Israel and the USA, but also insulted Barak when its Foreign Minister refused to shake Barak's hand!

How do we know that Assad fooled us? The fact that even President Clinton, who met Assad 'eyeball to eyeball' came back to the White House empty handed. Of course Sneh did not discuss this wrong Israeli assessment with Rose. But why Assad is able to be such a great card player? Perhaps because Sneh and other Israeli officials declared their will to give up most of all of the Golan with certain kind of protections. Sneh explained "that we are ready to have very substantial, very broad, and deep withdrawal on the Golan heights without demarcation of the final borders." Sneh also claimed that Israel and the PLO have a common enemy: The Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Hizbollah. Sneh argued that Arafat himself understands "...that the Hamas is a greater danger for the Palestinian authority than to Israel." Sneh also said all of the cities and 60% of the citizens of the West Bank are in the hands of Arafat.

Sneh agreed with Rose that we might force a military confrontation with Syria especially after Israel will evacuate South-Lebanon. Sneh does believe that the PLO and the Hamas do not cooperate against Israel. Indeed, we saw Arabs united against Israel when we were sure that they are fighting among themselves.