Olmert says that there are no sign of impending war

Shortly before embarking on a tour of Europe, Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said that he does not interpret several military steps taken by Syria as signs of impending war.

Yesterday, at the Israeli government's weekly meeting, the ministers heard reports that Syrian President, Bashar Assad, has ordered to increase development of long range missiles and that anti-tank missiles have been moved toward the border with Israel. Assad has expressed the view that if no progress is made to return the Golan Heights to Syria it will have to retake it by force. A number of reports in the Israeli media had stated that war with Syria may indeed break in the summer of 2007. Nevertheless, the intelligence presented to the ministers termed these reports as irresponsible.

Olmert also spoke about the Holocaust convention in Iran and said that it is a testament of its hatred and bigotry.