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Photo: AFP
Syria fighting. It's unthinkable that Israel would intervene in favor of Hezbollah's allies
Photo: AFP

Israel must not get involved in Syria

Op-ed: An Israeli intervention in favor of Syria's Druze will only push the enemy to attack us; therefore, it cannot take place under any circumstances.

"We must prepare our forces for the crucial day, both on the Lebanon front and on the eastern front," Northern Command chief Aviv Kochavi said this week, and it's good that he did.

 

 

The IDF must prepare for a possibility that the Sunni organizations – the Islamic State and similar groups – will attack our border from the no man's land which was once called Syria. It's the IDF's duty to prepare for any scenario, but definitely not to provide an incentive for an attack on us.

 

In recent days, we have been witnessing a sort of political-media campaign requiring Israel to intervene in favor of some 700,000 Druze living in southern Syria, not far from the Jordanian border. Such an intervention, if it takes place, will not be a preparation for the crucial day, when the enemy attacks us, but will push the enemy to attack us – and therefore it must not take place under any circumstances.

 

Syria's Druze have never had anything to do with us. On the contrary, they were among the central pillars of Bashar Assad's evil regime, and they are today Hezbollah's allies. The notorious Samir Kuntar was recently sent by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to get them organized under the protection of the Shiite organization.

 

Residents caught in Syria fighting. 'It is Israel's duty to protect its most valuable asset so far in the face of the regional collapse: Its non-involvement (Photo: AFP)
Residents caught in Syria fighting. 'It is Israel's duty to protect its most valuable asset so far in the face of the regional collapse: Its non-involvement (Photo: AFP)

 

It's unthinkable that Israel of all countries would provide weapons or intervene in favor of Hezbollah's allies. At that very moment we will be turning ourselves, and rightfully so, into the enemies of Syria's Sunnis for generations to come.

 

A similar campaign took place immediately after the Six-Day War, when a pro-Druze lobby which gathered around Haifa Mayor Abba Hushi, with defense official Giora Zeid and Israeli Druze, pressed Defense Minister Moshe Dayan to bring back the Druze of the Golan Heights, who had fled to Syria. And indeed, he let them return to their villages. These are the Druze of the Golan, whose leadership was – and still is – hostile towards the State of Israel which saved them.

 

In Syria-Iraq-Lebanon of today, entire sects are annihilated, and more will be annihilated, and so they will hold on to anything, until they abandon it and move on to the next temporary alliance – all for the sake of survival. So only a fool would enter such a treacherous system. We have already learned our lesson, in Lebanon: You hold on to Israel only if there is no other choice, but you abandon it as soon as a new opportunity comes along, and we are left to lick our wounds.

 

Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin saw Lebanon's Christians as a massacred minority, and began to help them – first by secretly supplying weapons all the way to a complete invasion by Israel, also in order to remove the Palestinian terrorists. It ended in a lost generation with 18 years of war, and 1,000 dead IDF soldiers. And all that for what? For the Christians who quickly betrayed us and moved on to their next ally? We learned our lesson – this is the communal swamp of the Arab world, we are definitely not part of it, and won't be either.

 

Several Druze villages in northern Syria have fallen into the hands of ISIS recently, and the residents rushed to convert to Islam in order to save themselves. These are internal Middle Eastern scores, which will settle themselves amongst themselves, otherwise we will find ourselves in the Sabra and Shatila situation – with Arabs killing Arabs, while Israel is being blamed by the world. If Israel intervenes, a huge global spotlight will immediately be directed at us, and against us, and the Syrian acts of massacre will immediately stick to us.

 

Syria is 10 times bigger than Lebanon, and is much more dangerous. It is our duty to protect our most valuable asset so far in the face of the regional collapse: Our non-involvement. We are neither Sunnis nor Shiites, so we have been exempt in advance from this world war. Our non-involvement and deterrence will continue to protect us in an elusive reality. The crucial day? That will only come when our border is threatened, not a day earlier.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.13.15, 09:55
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