By Stan Goodenough
Aug 15, 2007
A general in Syria’s army has reportedly urged Syrian dictator Bashar el-Assad to go to war against Israel.
According to a report in Ynetnews Wednesday, chief of Syria's Military Intelligence General Asef Shawkat is the man responsible for pushing Assad towards conflict.
"If military confrontations break out between Syria and Israel, that would be the fulfillment of the general's plan," a Lebanese official told Yedioth Ahronoth - Israel's largest circulation daily.
Shawkat - who is Assad's brother-in-law - had told him that Israel would not surrender the Golan Heights without a fight.
He had also tried to persuade Assad that in a future war, rocket attacks on Israeli cities would force Jerusalem to negotiate with Syria.
The report asserts that Shawkat has sidelined Syrian Vice President Farouk A-Shara'a, who Tuesday announced that Damascus did not seek war with Israel.