Former US Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey spoke on Wednesday morning with Israel's Galei Tzahal about US-Israel cooperation on the destruction of Syria's nuclear reactor in 2007.

According to Jeffrey, the US and Israel had been discussing how to eliminate the Syrian nuclear threat for "some months" prior to Israel's military action.

"The Israeli authorities had been working with the US government for some months well before the site was struck," Jeffrey told Galei Tzahal. "We kept this information very tightly controlled within the US government unless there were absolutely no leaks to the media before the actual strike, so this was one of the successes."

"The US and Israel consulted very very closely at every level, from the President [George W. Bush - ed.] and Prime Minister Olmert on down, on the options before us.

"Very quickly it was clear to us that this was a North Korean-enabled nuclear enrichment, or rather plutonium reactor, that was clearly designed to advance a nuclear weapons program."

He also noted that Israel had full backing from the US, even if the US was not willing to take part in the destruction of Syria's reactor.

"I can say that President Bush was absolutely supportive, made it clear that we were very happy that events had eliminated this threat, and that if there were any threats to Israel that would emerge from this situation, the United States would stand with Israel, period," Jeffrey emphasized.

"Certainly, everybody in the region saw that if you are trying to get an illicit nuclear weapons program in the Middle East, and you come very close, and we're talking weeks, if not sooner in the case of the Syrian reactor, it is quite possible that you will be facing military action. I think this had a significant effect on Iran's calculations and possibly other states' calculations."

Jeffrey also pointed out that the Syrian government has no qualms about destroying even its own people, and said Israel's actions were "a blessing" for all humanity.

"We saw exactly how the Syrian government uses weapons of mass destruction when it can. It is responsible for the deaths of over 400,000 Syrians, in the displacement, in the driving overseas of over 10 million. It would've stopped at nothing, it was a blessing, a blessing for everybody in the Middle East and for humanity that that reactor was destroyed," he concluded.