Attempting to tone down his foreign minister's harsh anti-Syria rhetoric, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel was striving for peace with all its neighbours, but negotiations had to take place without preconditions, dpa reported.
"We have done it with Egypt and Jordan and we can do it with Syria and the Palestinians," he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman caused a storm last week when he said in an address at an Israeli university that if Syria attacked Israel, the Israelis would not only defeat him but topple his regime.
The bellicose foreign minister was responding to remarks by Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Moallem which hinted that Damascus would strike at Israeli cities if attacked.
Lieberman also said Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad give up his dream of retrieving the strategic Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syrian in the 1967 war.
Following the outrage in Israel caused by Lieberman's remarks, Netanyahu ordered ministers to keep mum on the subject of Syria and his office issued a joint statement with Lieberman that while Israel wanted peace talks with Syria without preconditions, it would also react forcefully against any threats.
Israeli striving for peace with all neighbours, Netanyahu says
