Opinion  Ronen Bergman
If it wanted to, Israel could have stopped the massacre in Syria
Ronen Bergman
Published: 20.12.16, 23:26
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31. Of course, as always......................
tiki ,   belgium   (12.21.16)
The JEWS are guilty!

The Jews are guilty of Auschwitz and now Aleppo!

Israel should have stopped Bashar from killing his own people instead of us and should have stopped the Russian Army, Americans, Nato and all the others involved.

Maybe Mr. Ronen should become PM to lecture us and the rest of the world how guilty the Jews are of the Syrian killing fields and 'therefore need to give all the country back to the "Palestinians with their historic rights" so we, the colonials with the fucked up human rights understanding, have the choice to be slaughtered by the Arabs or go back to Europe to become a citizen in the future Caliphate.

The nonsense written by some 'journalists' from their occupied moral high ground is mind boggling.

What a piece of absolute garbage and leftist hot air.
32. excellent, provocative column! raises serious questions...
Rafi ,   US   (12.21.16)
Overall I think Israel handled the Syrian crisis just about right...

Unlike US or Russia, Israel is NOT a superpower; it does not have the depth in resources or manpower to take on unnecessary risks or discretionary warfare. So today's situation is not fully analogous to the role of the Allies during the Shoah and WW II.

Meanwhile to its credit, Israel has maintained a relatively open fence on the Golan, accepting & medically treating 100's of Syrian casualties.

In short, Israel materially helped many Syrians but avoided taking unnecessary risks. A wise balance for a strong but small nation.

33. Self hating Jew, helping the enemy
Avi L.   (12.21.16)
Self hating Jew, helping the enemy
34. Mr.
benny   (12.21.16)
Kol Hakavod! We were powerful when we stood in moral high ground, behaved like jews; than my religion and my forefathers religion was trivilized by coalitions and power seekers with its wines, cigars and easy money...all conquered by the spread of fear among ignorant voters that worship the modern lamb:Bibi.
35. Did you forget about Russians ?
Maksim S. ,   NYC   (12.21.16)
Forget about Arabs uniting to stop Israel and all the blood and treasure Israel would waste on people who hate us and want to murder us all same as Assad. Did you forget Russian forces who command Syrian air-space now? Do you think they would just stand by and let Israel attack their allies?
36. Damned if you do, damned if you don't
Dina D. ,   Tel Aviv   (12.21.16)
Aside from the obvious fact that none of the Warring sides would appreciate any help from the Jews who are equally despised by all but perhaps the Kurds...

Any Israeli intervention would have spurred the anti Israel camp to shriek about imperialist intentions and Israeli colonialism.

o no, stop this BS.
37. If Israel helped rebels win, would they give up on Golan?
Steve Benassi ,   Minneapolis USA   (12.21.16)
Sucking Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan have combined resources much greater than Israel's and help to their Syrian brothers is pitiful.

There is no reason for Israel to sacrifice one liter of jet fuel for Syrians.
38. This is TOTAL NONSENSE...the Syrians are Israels ENEMIES !
Chris Rettenmoser ,   Bayerisch Gmain Germ   (12.21.16)
39. YEAH! ALL WB PALIS SHOUDL JUST ATTACK ASSAD.
IRANIAN JEW ,   LALA LAND   (12.22.16)
ISRAEL can provide great a/c luxury buses for their last ride along to 72 virgins.
ABBAS & DAHLAN can fight Assad and Iran, Iran and others with teh help of the Turks. WE will make sure WB is safe upon theri return.
Helping any Muslim side is just suiacide. They know no royalty to anyone. They will just turn around in a few years and attack Israel.
40. Why Israel did not save the Syrians from Assad's massacre
Andy ,   Peoria   (12.21.16)
That was, Ronen, because they are sworn enemies of Israel. I would not sacrifice a single Israeli soldier to save them. Your analogy with the Holocaust is false: the Jews were not enemies of the USA, you moral poseur.
41. Intervening in the Syrian Civil War.
Joel Fridjohn ,   Hod Hasharon.   (12.22.16)
Israel may have a strong army but we are certainly not a super power.
Our military resources are still very limited.
Non of the sides fighting in Syria have any love for the state of Israel or for the Jewish people.
So if all the those fighting in Syria don`t recognise our right to exist then why should we fight in favour of any of the opposing sides?
I am very proud of my countrie`s actions in providing the much needed medical aid and for saving the lives of hundreds of Syrian people through our Golan medical facility on the border fence.
Medical and humanitarian aid to the Syrian people yes.
Military intervenition no.
42. Comparison with the Holocaust is outrageous
C   (12.22.16)
the jews of europe were law abiding citizens of germany and its collaborating countries.
jews were unarmed, defenceless people, scattered throughout europe,
who never rebelled or in any way or attacked their fellow citizens.
in all countries, they were a very small minority subject to
discrimination and pogroms.

the horrors in syria are caused by an ongoing civil war in which
outside powers are taking part.
israel does not have the obligation to insert herself in this civil
war in which muslims are slaughtering muslims.
43. All participants in Syrian civil war are enemies of Israel
C   (12.22.16)
the assad regime, iran, hezbollah, other shia militias, the islamic state,
the muslim brotherhood.

all of the above are a serious threat to the existence of the jewish state.

after a forced exile of two thousand year, jews finally liberated their
ancestral homeland. they did not do so to sacrifice themselves for
the sake of committed enemies.
44. Bergman should remember that
shalom ,   jerusalem, Israel   (12.22.16)
1. All the groups fighting each other agree on one thing: that whoever wins will resume the supreme mission of destroying Israel.
2. An attack on Syria will unleash the rockets of Hizbullah upon Israeli homes.
3. Israeli planes attacking in the area of Aleppo will be shot down by the latest Russian S400 missiles.
4. The Obama administration, by firing a few cruise missiles at the Assad regime, could have stopped the slaughter in Aleppo without risking anything under points 1-3.
5. The Erdogan regime, too, could have intervened with planes or missiles without risking anything under points 1-2.
So why does Bergman ignore all five points?
45. MORE WISDOM FROM CONFUCIUS:
CONFUCIUS ,   SAFED CHINA   (12.22.16)
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED.
46. To 90% of the Commentors, if you read Mr Bergman's column..
Rafi ,   US   (12.22.16)
...carefully, you'd see that he only speculates about possible Israel action against Assad forces - that would have occurred PRIOR to the Russian involvement. (Once the Russians intervened, the dynamics changed completely...)

The fact is that early in the war, Assad's air force could have readily been taken out... thereby preventing brutal carnage via barrel-bombing, etc.

Whether Israel would have rec'd any "accolades" from anyone for such an action is highly dubious.

Meanwhile, in reality, there's no doubt that the UNITED STATES should have taken that action... if for nothing else to keep the Russians out of Syria.

Unfortunately, as can be seen in other spheres (western Pacific, Ukraine), geopolitics is and remains a subject that Obama Admin advisors Tony Blinken, Ben Rhodes, Susan Rice & the rest are clearly CLUELESS about.

47. No swan diving into that evil hole for us, Rafi
Cameron   (12.23.16)
We Yanks leave it to the Russians to be bogged down in that evil and worthless patch of sand.

48. Sorry Ronen, I aint buying this one.
Incredulous   (12.24.16)
How fast would the Syrians, or the UN for that matter, run to prevent a Jewish massacre? Not too fast, I suspect. In fact, they will assuredly contribute their 2 cents to the "festivities."
49. President Obama and Secretary of State
Steven Wilson ,   Anchorage, Alaska   (12.24.16)
Hillary Clinton...
Planned ...Supplied Arms...and used the CIA to start the coup in Syria.
You need look no further than those two people...when diagnosing the patient...and the hundreds of thousands of deaths.

It was just one of their virulent coup strains released on the Middle East.

Libya...Yemen...Tunisia....Ukraine.
Just to name a few other casualties..
50. Ronen Bergman is a big idiot
rose kalander ,   Stockholm   (12.25.16)
Ron Bergman, (are you a doctor???) if you did not know, the Syrians are one of the bigest enemies of Israel and the Jews.
If I were you, I would be ashame of to write so much stupid things that you do.
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