Why Israel Must Target Iran's Presence in Syria

(Tablet) Tony Badran - The Assad regime's current offensive in southern Syria has been mainly in the eastern part of Daraa province, down to the Jordanian border. The push toward the west - Quneitra and the Golan - carries the risk of Israeli action. Once the Syrian military campaign finds its way to Israel's border, Iran will as well - whether immediately or down the road makes little difference. All the chatter about a deal with Russia notwithstanding, there is a need for Israel to intensify its targeting of Iran's infrastructure, personnel, and logistical lines in Syria to deter the Iranians from moving against Israel on the Golan. "We have just one option," Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Shimon Shapira, a senior researcher of Hizbullah and Iran at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told me. "And that is to act with force, overtly and covertly, against the Iranian presence in Syria. Consenting to or accepting the Iranian presence, be it direct or indirect, in the end will lead to a war with Iran in Syria and in Lebanon." As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it recently, "if there needs to be" conflict with Iran, "it is better now than later."


2018-07-10 00:00:00

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