Israel Strikes Missles Bound for Syria

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 5, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                         

         Hitting Syrian-owned, Iranian-made guided missiles bound its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli military fired a shot across the bow to Bashar al-Assad, whose regime currently fights for its life against a growing insurgency.  Al-Assad’s regime pushed back, linking Israel with the Sunni Wahhabi rebels seeking topple his government.  Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi blamed Israel for joining the insurgency against al-Assad.  It’s not rocket science to figure out that most Sunni and Shiite groups would like to see Israel—as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is fond of saying—wiped off the map.  Israel’s air strikes were a response to recent missile attacks from Syria by rebel groups into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.  Meeting with his Cabinet in emergency session, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took seriously recent statements

             Hezbollah’s 52-year-old leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah promised April 30 to defend the al-Assad regime by whatever means.  It’s no accident that al-Assad has done his utmost to ferry missiles and war materiel to Nasrallah.  After battling Israel to a standoff and practically leveling Beirut in 2006, Nasrallah is ready to complete the job with the help of advanced Iranian-made, Syrian-owned missiles.  Al-Assad finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place trying to respond to Israel’s latest air strikes.  If he stirs up a new hornet’s nest with Israel, al-Assad’s enemies would like nothing more than to allow Israel to soften al-Assad’s defenses.  Al-Assad knows if he tries to mix it up with Israel, it’s going to hasten rebel advances toward Damascus.  Irsrael’s air strikes put more pressure on Obama to intervene militarily, proving, if nothing else, that air strikes don’t involve boots on the ground.

             Netanyahu doesn’t want more sophisticated arms from Syria falling into Hezbollah’s hands.  If al-Assad really used sarin nerve gas, Obama won’t have too many choices other than some kind of military option.  Reluctant to intervene in another Mideast civil war, Obama has shown appropriate caution over the objections of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and conservatives like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), both of whom advocate no-fly zones and bombing Syria to protect its civilian population.  Obama’s been reluctant to intervene because of the extent of al-Qaeda’s—and other terrorists groups—involvement in Syrian civil war.  If Obama or NATO arms al-Qaeda, Hamas or Hezbollah, there could be hell to pay to U.S. Mideast objectives.  With a weapons’ ban on Syrian rebels expiring next week, Obama will be under more pressure to supply arms and logistics.

             Threatening Israel, Iranian Asst. Chief of Staff Gen. Masoud Jazayeri told Arab-language TV that Tehran “will not allow the enemy [Israel] to harm the security of the regime,” indirectly admitting that it wholeheartedly supports its proxy terror group Hezbollah.  Supported both by Tehran and Damascus, Hezbollah would like nothing more than to start firing missiles into Israel’s Northern territory.  Israel struck deep into Syrian to prevent Iranian-made advanced anti-aircraft weapons from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Israel has already deployed Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in Northern Israel to ward off potential Hezbollah missile strikes.  Netanyahu’s biggest concern is fighting a multi-front war with Hamas firing missiles from the South, Hezbolhah firing from the North and Iran joining in for good measure from the Northeast.  Netanyahu knows hitting al-Assad is a calculated risk.

             Playing a dangerous game of chicken with Iran, Netanyahu takes attacking Syria as a warning to Tehran to stay out of the battle for Demascus.  With Hezbollah’s Nasrallah promising to defend Syria, Tehran has unofficially thrown its weigh behind keeping al-Assad in power.  While Russia and China, too, support al-Assad’s regime, Netanyahu hasn’t made too many friends on the U.N. Security Council.  Israel won’t tolerate al-Assad’s backing of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah precisely because it empowers Iran to take more aggressive action against Israel.  Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Ahmed Vahidi blamed Israel for siding with Syria’s rebel group, including al-Qaeda.  “These vain moves are not a sign of Israel’s power,” said Vahidi.  “It rather shows the [Israeli] regime’s despair in the face of regional developments,” referring to Hamas and Hezbollah’s growing clout.

             Israel’s strike on Damascus put more pressure on Obama to act if there’s any real confirmation that al-Assad used chemical weapons against rebel groups in Syria.  While there much speculation, perhaps even clever deceptions by rebel forces, about al-Assad’s use of sarin nerve gas, Iraael’s strike on Iranian-made anti-missile systems bound for Hezbollah in Lebanaon, raised the stakes for U.S. intervention.  Pushed by McCain and other neo-cons on the Hill, Obama’s refusal to intervene in Syria could be growing thin.  Any definitive proof of chemical weapons will push the White House into more decisive action.  While denied by Hezbollah’s al-Mamar TV, Israel hit Hezbollah’s Jamraya research center inside Syria.  Israel shows growing concerns about Iranian-made rockets hitting major Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.  Hitting Damascus, Israel showed that the U.S. could do the same.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.