red lines

Potential Israel-Syria conflict

During his appearance on the John Batchelor Show on July 26, 2006, Yossef Bodansky delineated a set of red lines that are not to be crossed by Hezbollah or by their Syrian backers. Bodansky is the Director of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. The red lines are:

a missile attack on Tel Aviv or Jerusalem the use of chemical or biological weapons on Israelis the execution of any of the three kidnapped soldiers any movement or suspicious activity by Syrian tanks or artillery

He indicated that if any of these lines should be crossed, Israel would open a third front in the conflict by bombing the Syrian capital, Damascus. Since Iran has declared it will stand with Syria against Israel in the face of an attack, it is possible that Israel will also pre-emptively attack Iran as well, though Bodansky says the United States would have to approve that action. He specifically said that Israel does not need any approval from the United States to attack Syria if any of these red lines are crossed.