Israel accepts attack on Syria

In a country notorious for its talkative officials, Israel's silence on a recent air raid in Syria has been an anomaly. The official blackout lasted nearly a month, but it finally ended, partially, on Tuesday.

However, the slight easing of military censorship revealed little more than indirect confirmation of the September 6 raid that even Syria's leader acknowledged took place.

The uncharacteristic reticence reflects Israel's concern over deepening tensions and the danger of provoking an armed conflict with its northern neighbor, the military and political leaders have been uncharacteristically tightlipped.

Israel's little-used military censor has taken an unusually tough line on coverage of the incident, in which Israeli jets attacked a target in Syria on September 6.

The information drought in Israel is such that the censor's seemingly tiny policy change Tuesday - permitting reports of the attack without appending the world ''alleged'' or crediting foreign sources - was the closest thing to a confirmation Israel has issued.

The announcement was widely seen as an official admission. ''Now it can be revealed: Israel attacked in Syria,'' read a headline on the Web site of the Maariv newspaper.

However, the censor's office insisted there was no such confirmation. It also continued to block additional details, such as the target of the attack.

Over the past month, the incident has sparked furious and conflicting reports in the foreign press, claiming that Israel attacked an arms shipment to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon or a nuclear installation built with North Korean help, or that the mission was an attempt to gauge Syria's air defenses.

Israel is a high-decibel country with an aggressive press corps, and leaks from politicians and army officers are the norm. But for nearly a month, Israeli officials have maintained silence about the attack.

In an exceptional step, Israel's chief of military intelligence was even ordered not to discuss the raid when he appeared before a powerful parliamentary panel last month, for fear that lawmakers might leak the information.

The silence was violated only once, by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. In a television interview, Netanyahu said he had been involved ''from the beginning'' in the planning for the strike and gave his backing. Netanyahu was widely condemned for his disclosure.

Air defenses

The Israeli silence matched a curious reticence on the part of Syria, which first issued only a laconic report that Israeli planes had invaded its airspace and had been driven off by air defenses.

Only on Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad acknowledged in a television interview for the first time that the incursion had been an attack. The target, he said, was an unused military building.

''They bombed a building, a construction, it's related to the military but it's not used, it's under construction, so there's no people in it, no army, there's nothing in it and we don't know the reason,'' Assad told the British Broadcasting Corp.

The airstrike has drawn rare attention to Israel's military censorship office, which dates back to emergency regulations enacted by the British in 1945, when they ruled what is now Israel.

The censor once enjoyed broad freedom to ban media reports. Its powers were clipped, however, by a 1989 Supreme Court decision and the advent of the age of the Internet and its borderless, instantaneous communications, which made restricting media reports nearly impossible.

Still, journalists in Israel are required to submit articles related to security and military issues to the censorship office, which can make changes to stories or bar publication altogether.

Violation of the censorship orders can result in the loss of press credentials or other sanctions, though such penalties are rare.

Source: www.ndtv.com