As well he should. In the past few days, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made it clear he believes Syrian leader Bashar Assad is a sponsor of Hamas, and the various terrorist organizations within the Palestinian territories.
Syrian leader Bashar Assad - nice moustache, huh?
This is true. Hamas and Islamic Jihad both have headquarters in Damascus. If Assad did not approve these headquarters would not be there.
It looks as if Assad may soon get hit:
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday ignored a deadline to begin releasing Palestinian prisoners and instead issued a veiled threat against Syria, vowing to strike "those who sponsor" the militants in the Gaza Strip who seized a young Israeli soldier.
Olmert's comments signaled that a flurry of diplomacy throughout the region is still no closer to securing the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
The Palestinian militants holding Shalit angrily said they would not release any more information about him after Israel ignored their ultimatum to begin releasing hundreds of prisoners early Tuesday. But they said they would not kill the soldier, after earlier signals that he would be harmed.
Speaking at a business conference in southern Israel, Olmert repeated his long-standing refusal to negotiate with Shalit's captors. "We won't negotiate with terror elements and we won't let anyone believe that kidnapping is a tool to bring Israel to its knees," he said.
He told the audience he has ordered the army to push forward with efforts "to strike terrorists and those who sent them and those who sponsor them," an apparent reference to Syria. "None of them will be immune."
Since Shalit was captured June 25 in a cross-border raid, Israel has made it clear that it holds Syria and Hamas' Syrian-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, responsible. Last week, Israeli warplanes buzzed the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israeli officials also have implied that Mashaal is a target for assassination.
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