Israeli ministers reportedly met this week to discuss a secret plan to facilitate the partition of Syria into regions.
News agency Israel Hayom reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday criticized Turkey’s involvement in Syria and the intentions of Syria’s de facto leader, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) commander Ahmed al-Sharaa. reported that he chaired a small ministerial meeting to focus on concerns. (His name is also known as Abu Mohammed Jolani).
At the meeting, held ahead of further talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ministers also reportedly discussed Israel’s plans, which were first revealed by Middle East Eye in December.
Under the plan, Syria would be divided into provinces, or provinces, which Israel Hayom said would be a way to “protect the security and rights of all ethnic groups in Syria,” including the Druze and Kurds. I explained that.
Israel’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Eli Cohen, reportedly suggested that the proposal be considered at an international conference convened by Israel, but Israeli politicians said they would not accept any initiative related to their country. We are aware that we are likely to face significant resistance within Syria.
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In December, regional security officials who had been briefed on the plot told MEE that Syria was in a three-tiered state in order to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s regime and sever ties with Assad’s supporters Iran and Hezbollah. He said an existing Israeli plan to split into two blocs had been thwarted. .
Israel had planned to establish military and strategic ties with the Kurds in northeastern Syria and the Druze in the south, leaving the Assad regime in Damascus under Emirati funding and control.
Revealed: How Israel’s plan to partition Syria was thwarted by Assad’s fall
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This would also have helped limit Turkish influence in Syria to the northwest. The northwest is a stronghold of the HTS and Turkish-backed rebels, whose blitzkrieg attacks led to Assad’s fall.
The plan appears to be the same one discussed by Katz and other Israeli ministers on Tuesday, and was hinted at by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in a speech last November.
Saar said Israel needed to reach out to the Kurds and Druze in Syria and Lebanon, adding there were “political and security aspects” to consider.
“We have to look at developments in this context and understand that in areas where we have always been a minority, we can naturally work with other minorities,” Searle said. Ta.
Türkiye and Israel in Syria
It seems that this feeling is not widely conveyed. In December, Syrian Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri condemned Israel’s invasion of Syria, saying the country needed to maintain its social and territorial unity.
“Israeli aggression is a matter of concern for me and I reject it,” Hijri told MEE in an exclusive interview from his home in Kanawat, a town in Suweida province in southern Syria.
Syria’s top Druze leader condemns Israeli invasion
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Hours after HTS-led rebels overthrew the Assad regime on December 8, Israel began moving troops into Syrian territory.
They entered from the Golan Heights, a Syrian plateau occupied by Israel since 1967.
Israeli security officials said Israel would maintain its positions in the occupied territories until it deemed “stability” had been achieved.
The plan to partition Syria highlights the Israeli establishment’s concerns about Turkey’s influence in the country.
On Monday, an Israeli government committee said Turkey could pose a greater threat to Israel than Iran in Syria if it supports hostile “Sunni Islamist forces” in Damascus.
The Turkish government has emerged as a major beneficiary of Assad’s fall, having supported the HTS and other rebel groups that led the offensive to topple Assad.
