2013 Briefing Book - Print Version - Aipac

ISRAEL AT RISK
Syrian Weapons Arsenal Threatens Regional Stability
Since the 2006 war between Israel and Hizballah, Syria has sought to mimic Hizballah by
accelerating its efforts to expand its inventory of ballistic missiles, rockets and chemical weapons.
The Syrian government has spent billions of dollars acquiring one the largest supplies of ballistic
missiles in the Middle East—weapons it has already used against its own civilian population—as
well as hundreds of tons of chemical weapons and precursor materials needed to produce mustard
agents, and sarin gas. Weapons of mass destruction enhance Syria’s capabilities to confront Israel.
With the assistance of North Korea and Iran, Syria has also procured Scud-C intermediate-range
ballistic missiles and is developing longer-range Scud-D missile systems that can hit all of Israel.
Both can be deployed with a chemical warhead. If the Assad regime fears it will soon collapse, it
could carry out an attack against Israel using this toxic arsenal or large portions could be hijacked
by radical factions amid the likely chaos following the regime’s downfall. U.S. and Israeli officials
are increasingly concerned about this scenario.
Iran and Syria are supplying Hamas and Hizballah with increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles to target Israel.
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