JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel voiced confidence on Thursday that the United Nations could secure the release of U.N. peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels near the Golan Heights, signaling it would not intervene in the crisis.

"Restricting the movement of troops in an international force is a significant event," Amos Gilad, a senior Defense Ministry official, said on Israel Radio. "The United Nations ... can be trusted to persuade them (the rebels) ultimately to free them."

Gilad said the rebels, seeking foreign support, had no interest "in getting into a confrontation with the international community."

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Ari Rabiniovitch)