Israeli defense minister says Syria strike shows its resolve

Israel’s defense minister Sunday said last week’s air strike against military targets in Syria was “proof that when we say something, we mean it.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s comments at a news conference in Germany were the most direct acknowledgment yet of Israel’s role in the Jan. 30 early-morning attack.

Officially, Israel has declined to comment, but U.S. officials privately confirmed that Israel hit a weapons convoy that was carrying Russian antiaircraft missiles.

Syria has denied that a convoy was hit and claims that Israel struck a military research facility outside the capital of Damascus.

Barak initially declined to comment on the attack, but then added that it illustrated Israel’s commitment to prevent Syrian weapons from being obtained by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

“I cannot add anything to what you have read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago,” Barak said. “I keep telling, frankly, that we said — and that’s another proof that when we say something, we mean it — we said that we don’t think that it should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon.”

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