The State of Israel is prepared for any scenario or any threat, and will be ready to respond to any Syrian provocation, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday in response to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s comments to German magazine Der Spiegel.

“The Syrian president’s belligerent declarations do not fit in with his talks of peace,” Peretz said.

Asked for his thoughts on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to “wipe Israel off the map,” Assad told interviewers that Syria wanted peace with Israel and "not to see it destroyed."

However, he added: "But my personal opinion, my hopes for peace, could one day change. And if this hope disappears, then war may really be the only solution."

“If the Syrian president has sincere intentions (towards peace),” Peretz stated, “he can prove it by making a move, such as halting support for (Hamas politburo) Khaled Mashaal and stopping the supply of weapons to Hezbollah. The State of Israel strives for peace with all its neighbors as soon as the appropriate conditions are in place.”

Arming the enemy

Israeli diplomatic officials in Jerusalem do not believe the time is right to begin a dialogue towards peace with Syria. It should be noted that the United States is adamantly opposed to such an initiative, due to Damascus’ hand in the ‘axis of terror’ between Tehran and south Lebanon.

Beyond that, US President George Bush doesn’t hold the Syrian rule in high regard, as it supports Iraqi insurgents and even directly aided rebel forces during America’s presence in Iraq.

Israel is also attentive to the nations of the West, headed by the US and France, who are convinced the Assad administration had a hand in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said more than once in recent weeks, since the end of the war in Lebanon, that there is no point in trying to open up “the Syrian channel” at the moment.

Among other reasons, Olmert’s associates point to the fact that Syria enabled weapons and ammunition to be transferred to Hezbollah through its borders.

Many of the rockets Hezbollah fired on Israel during the war were Syrian-made, and Damascus provides refuge for Hamas political leader in exile Khaled Mashaal. Regarding the transfer of arms, Assad himself told Der Spiegel that blocking the flow of weapons is “an impossible task.”