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Trump is endangering Israel by leaving Syria to Assad, Russia and Iran

Donald Trump squanders America’s military and moral credibility in Syria, hard-won through the defeat of ISIS, leaving Syria to Israel’s enemies.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks tough on Syria. He needs to because President Donald Trump is abandoning Syria to Israel’s enemies: the Syrian regime and Iran, both amply aided by Russia.

They are America’s enemies, too, but Trump doesn’t see that. He sees only as far as Islamic State in Syria. Now that ISIS is defeated, Trump is doing no more to end the civil war in Syria than did President Obama.

Obama gave Russia carte blanche in Syria because, Obama flippantly said, Russia would soon find itself in a “quagmire” in Syria. Just the opposite. Russia now holds the upper hand in Syria, content to shore up the Assad regime and share power with Iran. Trump is doing exactly the same.

All this endangers Israel. Syria is still in a state of war with Israel. Iran declares its desire to destroy Israel regularly. Iran possesses powerful weaponry on its own, and amply supplies its ally Hezbollah — also rabidly anti-Israel —in Lebanon.

Needless to say, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu puts on a good face. He declares Israel’s intent to oppose the Iranization of Syria. He demands 30-mile buffer zones between Iranian forces in Syria and Israel. He sustains some kind of tricky dance with Russia, visiting with Vladimir Putin often and never condemning Russia’s moves in Syria, thus projecting an amiable Israel-Russia relationship. Yet, Russia continues to prop up one of Israel’s enemies, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, and give free reign in Syria to another one of Israel’s enemies, Iran.

Netanyahu threatens military action in Syria if Iran moves its heavy weaponry within 30 miles of Israel (i.e., the Golan Heights and northern Israel). Also, Israel has bombed a few deliveries of heavy weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

What’s it all worth? Is even a 30-mile buffer zone significant in this day of missiles, rockets and super-sophisticated jet fighter planes? Hezbollah already possesses more rockets than it did during its 2006 war with Israel. Iran’s weaponry is far stronger. Meanwhile, the United States under Trump, which led the way in defeating ISIS, does not follow up on either its military victories or moral credibility in Syria. The US could turn on Syria’s Assad, or strongarm Russia and Iran to reduce their forces in Israel. Trump does neither.

This puts Israel in the position of needing to prepare for an all out war on a scale not seen since the Yom Kippur War of 1973. No doubt, Israeli deterrence means a lot because Israel has not hesitated to fight its enemies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and Hamas in Gaza in 2008-2009, in 2012 and in 2014. But these wars are costly in morale, money and disruption, not to mention in Israeli lives lost.  Iran and Hezbollah compete with each other in demonstrating their hatred of Israel. Another war against Israel would dwarf the relatively recent battles in Lebanon and Gaza. Israel’s wonderful new technology catalyzed by these wars — anti-missile defense systems, Arrow, Irondome and David’s Sling — would go only so far in reducing vast destruction and destabilization.

Against the prospect of all this, Donald Trump takes a leaf out of former Secretary of State John Kerry’s ridiculously naive playbook. His diplomatic “method” was to rely on the good will of Russia.

It didn’t work for Kerry or Obama, and it won’t work for Trump. The country most endangered is Israel, followed by Jordan and ultimately Europe. We expect more from Trump than political gestures about the American embassy in Israel and quixotic efforts around a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace. The policies that should occupy the president of the US are those promoted by the people who want Israel dead — and who have to power to mount a vastly destructive and credible threat in this direction, not least because Israel’s enemies also happen to be America’s.

The strategy that says that Israel’s security threats are over, and that all Israel needs to concentrate on now are its technological triumphs, is blind.

Israel approaches the 70th anniversary of its birth. What is this an anniversary of? Arab states invading Israel. Blessedly, two such states, Egypt and Jordan, say they’re no longer interested. Other longstanding enemies of Israel, such as Saudi Arabia, also say they’re no longer interested. Very nice — but insignificant, given the scope and intensity of Syria’s and Iran’s hatred of Israel. And don’t forget to throw in the hatred of Israel by Iraq and Kuwait, otherwise distracted though they might be.

Not to mention — the massive humanitarian suffering in Syria that continues under the Syrian regime. That, too, Trump does nothing to put a stop to.

The only difference between Obama and Trump is that Obama was foolish enough to declare a red line and then ignore it, while Trump declares no red lines but ignores the terrible realities just the same:

• an emboldened Iran;

• a destabilized Middle East that ultimately will threaten Europe and world peace;

• direct dangers facing Israel; and

• the continuation of the nearly seven-year-old, cruel onslaught by the Syrian regime on its own civilians.

Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News




One thought on “Trump is endangering Israel by leaving Syria to Assad, Russia and Iran

  1. Julian Stroh

    Dear Editors,

    Thank you for saying so well what I have been telling people since July, when the Trump administration first made clear that they were handing Syria over to Israel’s enemies.

    Trump’s latest move of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital only exacerbates the situation. Now Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, that wanted to form open military alliances with Israel against Iran, will be reticent to do so, for fear of fomenting rebellion among their Israel-hating citizenry.

    Reply

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