Israel warns Syria that it will lose Future war

JERUSALEM – Israel's outspoken foreign minister harshly warned Syria Thursday against drawing the Jewish state into another war, saying the Syrian army would be defeated and its regime would collapse in a future conflict.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also advised Syria to abandon its dreams of recovering the Israeli-held Golan Heights in a speech that ratcheted up simmering political tensions between the two longtime foes and sparked an urgent damage control campaign from the prime minister's office.

Lieberman's exceptionally sharp words followed Syrian President Bashar Assad's accusation on Wednesday that Israel was the one avoiding peace, and the Syrian foreign minister's earlier threat that Israeli cities would be attacked in a future conflict.

The Syrians "have crossed a red line that cannot be ignored," Lieberman said in a speech at Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv.

"Our message must be clear to Assad: 'In the next war, not only will you lose but you and your family will lose power,'" he added.