Jordan's signing of a peace treaty with Israel, and other issues, were met with disdain by Syria's president Hafez Al-Assad. The CIA handed the King a detailed report in December 1995 warning him of a Syrian plot to assassinate him and his brother Hassan. A month later, the CIA sent Hussein another report warning Jordan of Iraqi plots to attack Western targets in Jordan to undermine Jordan's security due to its support for the Iraqi opposition. In Israel, Shimon Peres of the leftist Labor Party and Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party, were competing for the post of prime minister. Hussein's popularity in Israel had peaked after the peace treaty was signed, and he was expected to express support for a candidate. Hussein initially remained neutral, but later expressed support for Netanyahu. Efraim Halevy, then head of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad), claims that Hussein had preferred Netanyahu over Peres as he had deeply mistrusted the latter. The Israeli general election held on 29 May 1996 witnessed Netanyahu's ascension to the prime ministry.