Jerusalem Center / ICA - Jerusalem Issue Brief
Subject: Is Israel Facing War with Hizbullah and Syria? - David Schenker - Vol. 9, No. 22
Date: Tuesday, April 6, 2010, 11:08 AMThe full article is in the attached pdf file or you can go to our website: http://www.jcpa.org/.
Vol. 9, No. 22 6 April 2010
Is Israel Facing War with Hizbullah and Syria ?
David Schenker
- Concerns about Israeli hostilities with Hizbullah are nothing new, but based on recent pronouncements from Syria, if the situation degenerates, fighting could take on a regional dimension not seen since 1973.
- On February 26, Syrian President Bashar Assad hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Damascus . Afterward, Hizbullah's online magazine Al Intiqad suggested that war with Israel was on the horizon.
- Raising tensions further are reports that Syria has provided Hizbullah with the advanced, Russian-made, shoulder-fired, Igla-S anti-aircraft missile, which could inhibit Israeli air operations over Lebanon in a future conflict. The transfer of this equipment had previously been defined by Israeli officials as a "red line."
- In the summer of 2006, Syria sat on the sidelines as Hizbullah fought Israel to a standstill. After the war, Assad, who during the fighting received public assurances from then-Prime Minister Olmert that Syria would not be targeted, took credit for the "divine victory."
- Damascus' support for "resistance" was on full display at the Arab Summit in Libya in late March 2010, where Assad urged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to abandon U.S.-supported negotiations and "take up arms against Israel ."
- After years of diplomatic isolation, Damascus has finally broken the code to Europe , and appears to be on the verge of doing so with the Obama administration as well. Currently, Syria appears to be in a position where it can cultivate its ties with the West without sacrificing its support for terrorism.
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