Since former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s dramatic flight to Moscow on Sunday, Israel has launched hundreds of attacks against its neighbour.
Israel claims this is necessary for its defense.
However, it has continued to attack Syria with impunity since at least January 2013, when it bombed a Syrian arms convoy, killing two people.
Since then, Israel has continued to attack Syria, usually targeting positions belonging to its enemies Hezbollah and Iran.
In the process, observers say, the idea of attacking neighboring countries became normalized.
“Tendency to Destruction”
In recent days, Israel has launched more than 480 airstrikes against Syria.
At the same time, it moved ground forces into the demilitarized zone located in Syrian territory along the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, which Israel already illegally occupies. Israel said it wanted to create a “barren defense zone” and declared the 1974 agreement establishing the buffer zone “collapsed.”
On Monday, it also struck 15 ships anchored in the Mediterranean ports of Bayda and Latakia, about 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of the Golan Heights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday claimed much of the credit for the Syrian organization Hayat Tahir al-Sham’s (HTS) blitzkrieg, telling reporters that “the collapse of the Syrian regime is due to serious “This is a direct result of the blow.” We attacked Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. ”
Mailav Zonszein, a senior analyst at Crisis Group, said the attack on Syria was “a mixture of both opportunism and strategy.”
While it is “natural” that Israel would seek to neutralize potential threats on its borders while remaining virtually defenseless, it is less uncertain what its long-term plans will be.
“I think what we’re seeing in reality is the strategy that Israel has been deploying since October 7: identify a threat or an opportunity, deploy troops, and then resolve it.”
But political scientist Ori Goldberg wasn’t convinced there was any strategy at work.
Instead he said: “This is our new security principle. We will do what we want, whenever we want, but we will not make any commitments,” he said from Tel Aviv.
“People are talking about Greater Israel and how Israel is sending vines into neighboring countries. You can’t see it,” he said.
“I think this is primarily the result of confusion and new, if not new, destructive tendencies (in Israel).”
Ignoring the world’s criticism
Israel has killed at least 48,833 people in the past 14 months.
It attacked Iran and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, then invaded Lebanon, and now it’s attacking Syria.
All the while raiding the besieged enclave of Gaza, attacks that have been found to be genocide by multiple countries and international organizations and groups.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s talk of “changing the face of the Middle East” without regard for casualties has quickly resonated in much of the Israeli media.
On Wednesday, an editorial in the Jerusalem Post boldly stated, “Israel has done more for stability in the Middle East in the last year than decades of incompetent U.N. agencies and Western diplomats.” .
Various countries, including Egypt, France, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, have criticized Israel’s attack on newly liberated Syria. On Saturday, the 22-member Arab League issued a statement accusing Israel of trying to “exploit internal challenges in Syria.”
The United Nations, whose mission to monitor the buffer zone between Syria and Israel until the end of this year, condemned the violation of international law.
“The U.N. protests mean absolutely nothing,” Golberg said, suggesting that Israel’s repeated clashes with various international organizations are part of the overall mood in the country. did.
“We want to stick with this guy,” he said. “We want to show the ICJ and the ICC that we don’t care. We’re going to do exactly what we want.”
On Wednesday, Times of Israel columnist Jeffrey Levin characterized the past 13 months as a movement toward “a new Middle East of peace and prosperity.”
In Levine’s vision, following seismic shifts over the last year or so, Syria will be freed from al-Assad’s geopolitical machinations, Iran will be freed from its “theocratic regime,” and the Kurds will be free to establish their own state. will be able to form. The Palestinians would then be free to establish a new “homeland” in Jordan.
Israeli political analyst Nimrod Fraschenberg said that while some rapprochement may be possible with Syria’s Kurdish and Druze minorities, “most Israelis do not want to see themselves in the region after this.” I don’t think I ever imagined it would be so popular.”
“But I think they are looking forward to a Middle East where there are fewer regimes that are hostile to Israel,” he said.
