The New York Times has just reported that, according to American and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports, Israel’s air attack on Syria last month was directed against a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was a partly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Korea has used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel.
However, many details remain unclear, including how much progress the Syrians had made in construction before the Israelis struck, the role of any assistance provided by North Korea, and whether the Syrians could make a plausible case that the reactor was intended to produce electricity.
It is still the case that neither Iran nor any Arab government except for Syria has criticized the Israeli raid, suggesting, in the words of the Times, that “Israel is not the only country that would be disturbed by a nuclear Syria.”
