Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin told the cabinet on Sunday that Iran, Syria and Hizbullah were exploiting current political uncertainty in Israel and the US. Yadlin said, "The changing of the governments in the US and Israel, and the world economic crisis, are being exploited by the radical axis in order to improve its situation," Yadlin said. "Iran is exploiting the weakness in the international theater, in anticipation of the new government in the US, in order to move forward on its nuclear program and to soften the network of international opposition." Yadlin said that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is still waiting for a change in Washington D.C. before proceeding to reach a diplomatic agreement with Israel on his terms, and indicated that indirect talks between Israel and Syria have not separated the Damascus government from the Teheran regime or its Hizbullah puppets in Lebanon. Hizbullah aside, he said that Iranian and Syrian involvement in Lebanon was a means of taking control of the country. "Syria and Iran are buying the regime in Lebanon and are pouring substantial money into buying parliamentary representatives and into conducting dubious business deals. The Iranian offer to assist in the building of the Lebanese Army is a ruse to take control of Lebanon." As for Syrian re-armament of Hizbullah since its war on Israel's north in 2006, Yadlin said, "Assad is continuing to throw open the doors of Syria's warehouses for Hizbullah, and has become 'Hizbullah's arsenal.' Assad trusts Hizbullah more than his own army and Hizbullah operatives act in Syria as if it's their own. The Syrians have removed almost every restraint and are giving Hizbullah possession of almost every strategic capability they own in an irresponsible way." Yadlin also said that Hizbullah is only holding off from an attack on Israel in revenge for what it sees as Israel's role in February's death in Damascus of arch terrorist Imad Mughniyeh out of fear of a harsh Israeli response. Instead, it is pursuing indirect means of attacking Israel, such as increasing its activities in Gaza, he exlained. Yadlin said this was creating some tension between Hizbullah and Hamas, since Hamas had an interest in preserving the current calm in the Gaza Strip, as borne out by its recent arrests of Hizbullah terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Yadlin said the terror attack last month in Damascus that killed 17 people was a result of Syria's involvement in world terrorism. He attributed the attack to world Jihad terrorists, saying that Damascus had in the past given them a free hand to pass into Iraq and Lebanon as long as they didn't attack the Syrian government. That unwritten agreement, Yadlin said, has now been violated. He spoke before a United States helicopter raid into Syria Sunday night.
