MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) – The Israeli ambassador to Moscow said Tuesday that her country supported the US-Russian plan to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control for eventual dismantlement.
“Israel has welcomed the US-Russia plan. But results are determined by deeds,” Ambassador Dorit Golender said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
She expressed concern that the focus the international community has placed on Syria’s chemical arsenal has sidelined deadly everyday events in the ongoing civil war.
More than two years of fighting between Syrian government and opposition forces has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people, according to UN estimates.
But the Israeli ambassador emphasized that her country would not interfere in the nearby civil war. “There is no way of getting Israel involved in the Syrian conflict,” she said.
Last week, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons approved the US-Russian-initiated plan to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria, and the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the plan.
The administration of US President Barack Obama has accused Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government of being responsible for an August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that Washington claims left more than 1,400 dead.
Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that they have evidence showing that the attack was likely carried out by Syrian rebels seeking to frame Assad in order to secure outside military intervention against government forces.
