A READER SUGGESTS THAT THIS BEARS WATCHING, and he’s right:

Soldiers from the Golani Brigade’s elite Egoz unit shot dead one armed infiltrator and captured another along the Syrian border in the southern Golan Heights Wednesday afternoon.

During the fight, Syrian troops shot at the soldiers the first such incident of its kind in nearly 20 years. There were no casualties and the soldiers did not return fire.

According to security sources, the gunman and his accomplice apparently came from Syrian territory, ruling out the possibility they had infiltrated from Jordan.

Following interrogation of the captured infiltrator, it transpired that they were Syrian soldiers dressed in civilian clothes. It is still not clear what they were doing, although it is thought they might have been on a reconnaissance mission and were surprised by the IDF presence. Syria charged that Israel had violated cease-fire terms.

“Hey, no fair! You shot our armed infiltrators!” How sadly typical. But you have to wonder why Syria might try something like this just now. And you also have to wonder if part of the reason for the delay in invading Iraq is that the operation may wind up as a twofer.