A-G Avichai Mandelblit prevents large-scale operation in Syria - report
The operation was reportedly meant to target Iranian military facilities in Syria, and could have expanded into Lebanon in case Hezbollah intervened.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFAttorney General Avichai Mandelblit (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit prevented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from opening a large-scale military operation in Syria, The Independent Arabia reported earlier last week.Mandelblit told Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman that the current political situation and the lack of a functioning cabinet makes the time unsuitable for such an operation, according to the news outlet.Braverman reportedly requested Mandelblit's legal opinion concerning both the domestic legal situation and international law, in the event of a major-scale operation that could potentially develop into war.A source in the Israeli government said that after consulting with Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and the security cabinet, Netanyahu was planning to launch a large-scale military operation in the North, The Independent Arabia reported.The operation was reportedly meant to target Iranian military facilities in Syria, and could have expanded into Lebanon in case Hezbollah intervened.The report claimed that the US gave Israel the go-ahead to strike Iranian interests in the region.Mandelblit reportedly said that Netanyahu is obliged to notify opposition leader and former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz if such an operation is to take place. According to Maariv, Mandelblit reportedly prevented Netanyahu from launching a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip following a rocket salvo toward Ashdod during his speech in September.The operation was likely to spark a war between Israel and the Gaza factions.
Netanyahu reportedly tried to launch the operation without the involvement of the Shin Bet or IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Aviv Kochavi. The prime minister later said that the response to the salvo was the assassination of Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu al-Ata in November.Tzvi Joffre and Leon Sverdlov contributed to this report.
