With Syria attack on hold, most reserves soldiers sent home

In a sign of temporarily cooling tensions, the Israeli military on Sunday authorized the release of most of the reserves soldiers called up several days earlier.

The move came a day after US President Barack Obama said he would not launch a strike against Syria until seeking an okay from Congress, a process that will likely take a week or more.

Last Wednesday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a limited call-up of reserves soldiers in light of building tension ahead of what was then believed to be an imminent American attack on Syria.

Some 1,000 reserve soldiers were called up, mainly to the Home Front Command, intelligence units and missile defense units.

Syria, Iran and Hezbollah had threatened to retaliate against Israel should the US-led attack take place. While officials said the chance of Israel actually taking on rockets was small, a number of orders were given to prepare the home front, including deploying anti-missile batteries in the north and next to Tel Aviv.

“The army’s preparation was responsible,” said IDF Northern Commander Yair Golan, while updating mayors of local councils in the north of Israel on the current security situation.

Keeping the soldiers on duty until possible American action would have likely cost the army, currently dealing with budget cuts, several hundred thousand shekels, and the move would have also slightly pinged the Israeli economy.