Intelligence minister says Syrian chemical weapons unacceptable

Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern tells Army Radio that Syria cannot be allowed to obtain chemical weapons, after a report Monday that Israel targeted the country’s chemical weapons facilities.

Stern refuses to directly comment on the report in the Washington Post that said that Israel struck Syria on two occasions — once this year and once last year — in a bid to block attempts to rebuild its chemical weapons stockpile. But he hints that Israel cannot accept such weapons in the hands of its enemy to the north.

“We have a neighbor that has already proved that it doesn’t hesitate to use chemical weapons even against its own people,” he says. “(Syrian President Bashar) Assad must not have chemical weapons.”

Israeli officials have declined to comment on the Washington Post report.