TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched a scathing attack on Syria, blasting any possible hopes of reviving the deadlocked peace track.
He also played down the possibility that Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerilla organization would provoke another war with Israel in the near future.
Speaking in an interview with Army Radio Thursday, Olmert said Damascus is the "capital of terrorism" against Israel and any talk about negotiations with Syria is "illogical."
"We belong to the world that fights terrorism and does not compromise with it," Olmert said.
The Israeli premier reiterated he will not return the occupied Golan Heights to Syria, stressing they are "an indivisible part of Israel."
Commenting on Syrian President Bashar Assad's declaration that Syria is ready to make peace with Israel, Olmert said, "Assad says something and does the contrary."
"We have to stop listening to all kinds of illusions and tricks. The Syrians supported Hezbollah and provided no less backing than Iran," he said, adding that "claiming that this man (Assad) intends to achieve peace with Israel is not serious."
He also stressed that the possibility of a new confrontation with Hezbollah is "very low," saying the recent war "changed the situation in south Lebanon" in Israel's favor.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military intelligence department said Assad was seriously considering the possibility of waging war against Israel.
The Maariv daily reported the Israeli army increased the possibility of a war with Syria from a "low level to a higher one."
It said over the past decades, military intelligence assessments were steady in the sense that Syria had no real military choice against Israel.
But a "basic change" occurred in that regard for the Israeli intelligence, "which now considers that the military option has become a realistic choice for Damascus and the Syrian military command is studying it seriously," Maariv said.
