North Korea may be helping Syria build a nuclear facility, according to reports published by the New York Times and the Washington Post. The news comes from initial findings by the U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities compiled over the past six months. According to the reports, Israeli satellite photos reveal a facility on Syrian soil capable of producing weapons-grade nuclear material.

The Post’s anonymous sources said that the latest reports and images of the Syrian facility have been restricted to senior-level access only.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear bomb last October, halted its Yongbyon nuclear program in July partially as a result of U.S. and international pressure.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that the administration is working to prevent “the world’s most dangerous people from having the world’s most dangerous weapons” (Haaretz, September 16).

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, stated that North Korea may be using Syria and Iran as “safe havens” for nuclear activity (ibid.).

The statements came on the heels of an Israel Air Force operation inside Syria. The nature of the operation is still vague, but it may have been a strike against a target in northeastern Syria.

The only nations to express solidarity with Syria are Iran and North Korea.

The main intelligence regarding the possible Syrian nuclear facility was Israeli. The Jewish nation has the principal cause for concern over the matter, since Syria borders Israel’s Golan Heights, is suspected to have assassinated Lebanese ministers of parliament, supports Hezbollah terrorists and is a close ally of Iran.

The possibility of North Korea flouting the long-standing U.S. imperative that Pyongyang not proliferate weapons technology indicates further that Washington will be of less and less help and influence in such matters in the future.

Watch for dangerous collaboration between nations such as North Korea, Syria, Iran and others to make life much less comfortable for the embattled nation of Israel. For the forecast on the fall of Israel and its allies, read “The Times of the Gentiles.”