Barak: Assad’s Exit to Weaken Hizbullah Dramatically
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Hizbullah and other Iranian proxies would suffer if Syrian President Bashar Assad was overthrown.
"Assad's fall would be a major blow to Iran... it would weaken dramatically both Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. It would be very positive," Barak told CNN on Thursday.
He said the Syrian president has lost his legitimacy.
On Iran, Barak said the international “sanctions are quite effective, but are far away from working."
He threatened that "all options are on the table" when asked whether or not there was a possibility that Israel could strike Iranian facilities.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta later hosted his Israeli counterpart in their second Pentagon meeting in as many months.
The closed-door conversation focused on the "U.S.-Israel defense relationship and mutual regional security defense interests," including Iran, Syria and effects of the Arab Spring on the region, the Pentagon said in a statement.
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