JERUSALEM—In an effort to counter attempts to convert Syria to the moderate Arab camp, Iran has given Damascus $1 billion to upgrade its army, an Israeli newspaper has found.

Haaretzreports, “The $1 billion that Iran has recently provided Syria has been used to buy surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.” It did not escape Haaretz that the weapons Syria acquired are tailored for a war against Israel. According to the report, “Israel has learned that Syria is buying more missiles than tanks, on the assumption that attacking the Israeli home front would deter Israel on the one hand, and help to determine the war on the other.”

This comes at a time when the international community, including Israel, has been reaching out to Syria to dump its old ally Iran. But this wouldn’t be the first time Iran pushed its agenda on Damascus.

In July 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Damascus when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reached out to Syria to begin peace talks. At that time, the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported, Ahmadinejad promised Syrian President Bashar Assad that Iran would finance Russian and North Korean weapons deals in exchange for Damascus forgoing peace talks with Israel.

Will Iran always be able to buy Syria’s friendship? Israeli intelligence officials are undecided on the answer. Some think their strategic alliance is too strong to be severed. Others think that if Israel offered the Golan Heights and Washington reversed its foreign policy against Syria, there might be a chance.

Biblical prophecy indicates what the answer might be. For more, read “Is the Syria-Iran Alliance Beginning to Crack?”