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The complex situation on Israel’s Syrian border

My article “The Strategic Imperative to Deny an Iranian/Hezbollah Base on the Golan Border” dealt with the attempt by Iran and Hezbollah to build a new strategic base in the northern Syrian Golan Heights and was posted on my Times of Israel blog at:
https://ict.org.il/Article/1332/the-strategic-imperative-to-deny-an-iranianhezbollah-basis 

In the Hebrew version, which I disseminated on January 28, I mentioned also the threat of the presence of jihadist rebels – especially the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra – on the Golan border and the need to avoid a situation in which these groups become a direct threat to Israel, as it happened with the Hamas/Muslim Brothehood movement in the West Bank and Gaza in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jonathan Spyer in his article “The Iran Axis Strikes Back in Golan Region” gives a detailed picture of the rebel and jihadist presence in the Golan area and southern Syria and the dilemma this poses to Israel and the Western supporters of the Syrian opposition.

See his excellent article at: https://www.meforum.org/5033/syria-iran-axis

Meanwhile, there is now more information concerning the Iranian, Hezbollah and Syrian effort to reconquer terrain and build a territorial base under Iranian control on the Israeli Golan border.

See https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625972,00.html

No doubt, Israel’s policy vis-à-vis the Syrian opposition and especially its jihadists elements needs to be carefully discussed in the public and academic arena.


The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT).