The absence of a peace deal with Israel could trigger a new war in the whole Middle East region in the future, the Israeli defense minister warned late on Monday.
"In the absence of an arrangement with Syria, we are liable to enter a belligerent clash with it that could reach the point of an all-out, regional war," Ehud Barak was quoted by local daily Ha'aretz as telling senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers.
Barak has long called for a resumption of peace talks with Damascus, yet his warning of a regional war is significant in that it is uncharacteristically sharp and strident, said Ha'aretz.
In the absence of an arrangement with Syria, we are liable to enter a belligerent clash with it that could reach the point of an all-out, regional war
"Just like the familiar reality in the Middle East, we will immediately sit down (with the Syrians) after such a war and negotiate on the exact same issues which we have been discussing with them for the last 15 years," said the defense minister.
After Israel launched military offensive against the Hamas- ruled Gaza Strip in late 2008, Syria formally suspended the indirect peace talks with the Jewish state, which started in May of 2008 under the mediation of Turkey.
Syria said it would resume indirect peace talks with the Israeli government as long as they focused on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel seized in 1967 and annexed in 1981 with no recognition of the international community.
Regarding Iran, Barak said that the Islamic Republic was the greatest threat to world order and that while the United States was planning a new round of tough sanctions it was doubtful that they would have the desired effect.
“We can’t foresee the effectiveness of the sanctions and the chance of the Americans recruiting the Chinese is also not great in light of the developments in U.S.-Chinese relations in recent days,” he said.
“As I have said in the past, all options are on the table, and I mean it,” Barak said.
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