Ex-premier says Israel had details on Syrian nuclear site years before strike

JERUSALEM

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday said Israel had details about Syrian nuclear activities five years before striking an alleged atomic reactor in Syria.

“We knew there were some activities that may have been involved with possible atomic energy, but we didn’t know anything more than that in 2002. It took us a few years until we had very tangible proof,” Olmert told i24NEWS channel.

“There were about 50 different photos of the inside of an atomic reactor. There was no doubt about the nature of this and the purpose of this. It was made to build only one thing: an atomic bomb,” Olmert said. “We had to destroy this specific target, which was endangering the existence of Israel,” he added.

Olmert, who was a prime minister at the time of the bombing, said the strike was meant “not to trigger a full military confrontation between Israel and Syria."

He added that Israel was prepared to respond to any Syrian retaliation, but found that "Syria was not interested" in a military confrontation.

On Tuesday, Israel revealed a secret document from 2002 that helped the bombing of what it said was a Syrian nuclear site in 2007.

A military statement said Israeli warplanes on Sept. 6, 2007 struck a Syrian nuclear reactor in the Deir Ezzor area in a mission that was code-named "Outside the Box."

The army also published photos and videos of targeting the Syrian nuclear site, and photos of the site before and after the bombing.

There was no Syrian comment on the Israeli claim.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar