President Shimon Peres says the Israeli government will seriously consider joining an international treaty banning chemical weapons after Syria said it would destroy its own toxic arsenal.
Israel is one of six countries not to have joined the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention following Syria's move this month.
"I am sure our government will consider it seriously," Mr Peres said in The Hague on Monday.
Israel has never publicly admitted to having chemical weapons. But Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said this month that Israel would be ready to discuss the issue when there was peace in the Middle East.
Under a joint proposal by Russia and the United States, Syria is committed to destroying its chemical weapons arsenal within nine months. It is believed to comprise around 1000 metric tonnes of sarin, mustard and XV nerve agents.
A team of weapons inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is going to Syria this week to make an inventory of its chemical stockpiles and munitions to determine how and where to destroy them.
Mr Peres said Syria joined the convention only when facing the threat of military force, but added that Israel would nevertheless consider a call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for all countries to sign the treaty.
Other nations not to have joined the convention are Myanmar, Egypt, Angola, North Korea and South Sudan.
