Israel’s Clash With Iran and Syria: 5 Takeaways
- 6 years ago
Israel’s Clash With Iran and Syria: 5 Takeaways
As both sides sift through the debris, here are some important points: As the Syrian civil war winds down, a new conflict is emerging among Iran, which appears to want a lasting Syrian base to threaten Israel; Israel, which is determined to prevent this;
and the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, which showed renewed confidence in firing on Israel’s warplanes.
"But from the Israeli point of view, Iran already has missiles
that can cover Israel, so that’s much less important than Iran’s presence in Syria." The United States, Israel’s most important ally, has focused on defeating the Islamic State in central and eastern Syria, not on Israel’s top concerns in the conflict.
Israel said that If Iran would move back to its bases, then Assad will have gotten what
he wanted, the Russians will have gotten what they wanted — but what about them?
been something of a "frenemy" to both Israel and Iran so far, but now faced "a huge dilemma." "Assad knows
that Russia has advanced antiaircraft capacities in Syria that it hasn’t deployed to protect him," he said. that Mr. Zalzberg said Russia had
of the slippery slope." "If you are committed to countering Iran in the region then you must do so in Syria — first," he said, adding:
"I’m not giving up on the U.S." Russia has played its hand expertly in Syria up until now, Israeli strategists say. that master
But if he and his regime are paying more of a price, maybe he can ask Iran to stop, or lean on the Russians to help." With the Trump administration looking
to reopen the nuclear deal with Iran, Mr. Eiland said, Israel could try to bring its own security concerns into the mix of a new negotiation.
As both sides sift through the debris, here are some important points: As the Syrian civil war winds down, a new conflict is emerging among Iran, which appears to want a lasting Syrian base to threaten Israel; Israel, which is determined to prevent this;
and the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, which showed renewed confidence in firing on Israel’s warplanes.
"But from the Israeli point of view, Iran already has missiles
that can cover Israel, so that’s much less important than Iran’s presence in Syria." The United States, Israel’s most important ally, has focused on defeating the Islamic State in central and eastern Syria, not on Israel’s top concerns in the conflict.
Israel said that If Iran would move back to its bases, then Assad will have gotten what
he wanted, the Russians will have gotten what they wanted — but what about them?
been something of a "frenemy" to both Israel and Iran so far, but now faced "a huge dilemma." "Assad knows
that Russia has advanced antiaircraft capacities in Syria that it hasn’t deployed to protect him," he said. that Mr. Zalzberg said Russia had
of the slippery slope." "If you are committed to countering Iran in the region then you must do so in Syria — first," he said, adding:
"I’m not giving up on the U.S." Russia has played its hand expertly in Syria up until now, Israeli strategists say. that master
But if he and his regime are paying more of a price, maybe he can ask Iran to stop, or lean on the Russians to help." With the Trump administration looking
to reopen the nuclear deal with Iran, Mr. Eiland said, Israel could try to bring its own security concerns into the mix of a new negotiation.