Syria and Israel, the standoff continues
Have you noticed how sometimes it is not clear why the information space explodes in one place or another? It would seem that an ordinary, even periodic event for many years suddenly arouses great interest, and a lot of differently directed materials appear on this matter.
I was very surprised by the appearance quite recently of just such materials about Israel's shelling of Syrian territory, especially the suburbs of Damascus and Syrian transport routes. An unprepared reader immediately gets the association “shelling - Russian military”. This is actually a threat to Russia!
The last shelling took place quite recently, on 15 February. The Israelis fired 16 missiles in the suburbs of Damascus, 13 of which were successfully intercepted and shot down by Syrian air defenses. In fact, only 3 missiles "worked". It is clear that the missiles were not shot down with slingshots. Russian air defense systems supplied to Syria are working quite effectively.
Why is Israel attacking Syria at all? Indeed, from the point of view of their effectiveness, it looks rather awkward. Who and why raises the topic of shelling and the confrontation between Syria and Israel in general? Let me remind you that both of these states are still at war. Wars since 1948!
Why the Israelis will keep shooting
Yes, this is what the near future of Syrian-Israeli relations looks like. A strange "apparent truce", which is accompanied by periodic blows from both sides. Although in quantitative terms, the Israelis are shooting more and more often. Moreover, there are no apparent reasons for these attacks. Damascus is not talking about the return of the Golan. There are no attacks on Israel by government forces.
I remember events more than ten years ago. Israel commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day and Heroism - 2010 Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jerusalem memorial complex Yad Vashem. Speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“We do not yet see in the world community the determination that is needed to stop the armament of Iran. I call on enlightened nations to rise up and condemn this desire for destruction, I call on to act with due determination. "
"The United Nations must be sensitive to threats posed by one UN member state to another UN member state ... Weapons of mass destruction in hands capable of destroying the masses, accompanied by a chorus of voices calling for such destruction, is the most dangerous combination for the world."
I specifically cited three quotes at once so that the position of the Israeli government would immediately become clear. The emergence of Iranian nuclear weapons is like death for Israel. It is quite difficult to confront alone against several Arab countries with weapons and military equipment comparable in power and capabilities, even with the help of the United States.
So, the main enemy for Tel Aviv today is not Syria, but Iran. This explains the strikes against humanitarian and military columns moving towards Tehran. The fact is that the supply of goods through Syria is very stressful for the Israelis precisely because it is here that there is a possibility of delivering some components to Iran for the production of nuclear weapons.
If you add up all the pieces that make up the changes in the Iranian army, you get a very dark picture for Israel. Strengthening air defense and missile defense, the emergence of weapons of mass destruction, a powerful army with rich combat experience, missiles capable of striking not only the border areas, but also the capital and other cities ...
But all this does not explain the attacks on Damascus. And then another fear of Israel emerges. If Iran does not have a common border with Israel, then Syria does. Less than a hundred kilometers, but there are. And the Syrians do not need to create missiles with a range of 300-500 km. So what's the secret?
And the secret is that the production of missiles, other weapons, guidance systems and other military production is actually located in the suburbs of Damascus. And if earlier, before the appearance of Russian air defense systems in Syria, Israeli planes fired at Syrian targets with impunity from the territory, more precisely, from the sky of Lebanon, now any such flight is under the control of the Syrians. The aircraft comes under the control of the S-300 practically from the moment of takeoff.
So far, the Russians have been able to restrain the fighting impulse of both the Israelis and the Syrians, but in the event of an aggravation, Syria may well shoot down Israeli planes over Lebanese territory. However, in the already existing reality there is the fact that control over aircraft is automatically also control over the launch of missiles. That is, the Syrian air defense has the ability to guide missiles along the entire flight path and, accordingly, shoot them down.
So the Israeli concern is understandable. The advantages over the enemy are fading. And I don't want to give up the Golan. Moreover, the Israeli government considers them already their territories and is actively developing them today. This issue urgently needs to be resolved diplomatically. Otherwise, war.
Sometimes the question arises about the legality of the actions of one side or the other. There is no peace treaty, as I indicated above, between Syria and Israel. Consequently, the illegality of the shootings cannot be proven. War is like war. Legally, these actions are in full compliance with international laws.
Russia is forced to solve security issues
We fully understand Israel's concern. Possible opponents are getting stronger. Their armies are not only gaining combat experience, but also modernized. Moreover, this is a really big problem for Tel Aviv; exactly the weapons are being acquired that are necessary to neutralize Israel's armament.
I'll start with one message that rocked the entire region. This material was published in the London newspaper "Al-Sharq al-Awsat". This newspaper is also printed in Marseille, New York, Frankfurt, Casablanca, Cairo, Dubai and Beirut, as well as in Saudi Arabia - Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran. The newspaper belongs to a citizen of Saudi Arabia (the family of Prince Ahmed bin Salman, which owns more than 30% of the shares).
So, in December 2020, at the Russian military base Khmeinim, secret negotiations were held between Syria and Israel on the issue of normalizing relations. The composition of the participants was quite serious. Former chief of the General Staff of the Israeli army Gadi Ayzenkot, head of the General Directorate of Security of Syria Ali Mamluk, adviser to President Bashar al-Assad on security Basam Hasan, one of the former leaders of Massad Ari Ben Menashe, commander of the Russian contingent in Syria, Lieutenant General Alexander Chaiko.
Agree, impressive. And it is immediately clear what kind of business those who have always succeeded in doing everything in recent years - the Russian military and special services - have taken on. What the Arabic edition was told about is also known:
The negotiations were successful, but ... for some reason, there was no progress by mid-February. What's the secret? In the media, you can find many versions of why the agreements are not being implemented. And the answer, as is often the case, lies on the surface. It is enough to go to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the same Syria.
“The purpose of the publication is to draw the entire region into an alliance created by the West and the Zionists using threats and incitement. Syria will not refuse to return the Golan Heights. "
This post was posted back on January 19th! But for some reason, the Western media preferred not to notice him. This is understandable, the purpose of this fake was well defined in the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
Relations between the countries are indeed tense. The last phrase in the statement of the Syrian Foreign Ministry just speaks about it. The Golan Heights are still a matter of questions. It will be quite difficult for Israel today to explain its withdrawal from these territories to its citizens, and for Syria, accordingly, to explain the abandonment of these territories.
The only thing that is true in the message of "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" is that, among other issues of the settlement of Syrian-Israeli relations, the Russian military has become involved.
Let me remind you of some facts. On February 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed international and regional security issues in a telephone conversation. Yes, this was not the only issue of this conversation, but it was discussed.
After this conversation, on February 10, at the initiative of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, a telephone conversation took place between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Gantz. Shoigu and Gantz discussed issues of interaction between the two countries to ensure stability in the Middle East region.
It seems that no documents were signed. We discussed, outlined sharp corners, solved some issues related to the activities of our own departments. But the results have already appeared. To quote the Syrian state news agency SANA:
Diab Kaamuz, a resident of the village of Rajar, was detained on September 4, 2016 for an attempted terrorist attack in the Haifa area. In addition, Caamuz was accused of espionage, assisting the enemy in the war against Israel, coming into contact with a foreign agent, transferring classified information to the enemy, entering into a criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of weapons, attempting to smuggle weapons.
Shams Nahal al-Makat. There is little information about this woman. In addition to being the sister of a terrorist sentenced to 27 years in an Israeli court, she herself was sentenced to three years for incitement in July 2020.
In response, the Syrians release a young Israeli woman, who two weeks ago "accidentally" entered Syrian territory in the Quneitra region and was detained by the Syrian security forces. According to reports in foreign media, we are talking about a 25-year-old resident of the Israeli city of Modiin Ilit. The woman was detained two weeks ago.
No end in sight yet
The unresolved Palestinian issue continues to strain both the Arabs and the Israelis. The conflict has already taken on a "chronic" form, when both sides justifiably or falsely accuse each other of violations. The only difference is at what point to start considering these violations.
There are many ways to resolve the conflict. But they all imply either concessions from either side, or mutual concessions from both sides. And this is where the stumbling block lies. Both Israel and Syria see themselves as right. And they always ask the same question: why should we give in?
The UN and other international institutions have actually signed their impotence. The governments, and indeed the peoples of Israel and Syria, are also not eager to concede in a longstanding dispute. The tension persists. Nobody knows how to solve the problem of Palestine.
One thing remains - to prevent the intensification of hostilities. The region is tired of the war. People are tired of the war. But people are used to war. This means that with the next exacerbation, the number of victims of the war may grow several times. Again we will wait for the coming of the Messiah ...
Information