Barak: Enemies wouldn't dare use WMDs

JERUSALEM, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Enemies are not likely to start an "all-out war" and "wouldn't dare" use chemical weapons against Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday.

Barak was responding to an assessment of the stability of the region by Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg Monday. The general said the Middle East was on the verge of war and the potential conflict could include weapons of mass destruction, Haaretz reported.

Barak, visiting the Golan Heights, said he didn't see a "reason that anyone of our adversaries would initiate an all-out war against Israel these days" and was convinced Israel's enemies "wouldn't dare use chemical weapons against Israel" even if they have the weapons now or in the future.

Barak said he hoped the turmoil in Syria would not disrupt the quiet of the country's border with Israel.

"We're here in the Golan Heights … a quiet border. On the other side of it, the Assad family is butchering its people across Syria in order to survive," Barak said.

The actions of Syrian President Bashar Assad will fail, Barak said, adding, "the Assad regime's fate has been sealed, even if it takes a few more months."

"I hope it will be quiet and there's no doubt that when his regime falls it will be a heavy blow to the entire radical front that is led by Iran and Hezbollah," Barak said in a Jerusalem Post report.

Concerning Israel's crisis with Turkey, the defense minister said it was important that the countries work together to achieve stability in the region.

Turkey announced Tuesday it was suspending all ties with Israel because it has failed to apologize for a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship that killed eight Turks.