Protecting Syria’s Druse
take the form of “artillery, rockets and air strikes if need be.”
But such a scenario could easily escalate, especially when viewed against the backdrop of two recent confrontations in which the Syrian army targeted Israeli warplanes conducting cross-border missions to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah.
In another incident late last month, five rockets were fired from Syria into Israel in what Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman described as a deliberate act carried out by a Hezbollah cell at the directive of the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In response, the Israeli army struck three Syrian artillery positions, bringing into stark focus the fact that forces loyal to Iran and President Bashar Assad – who according to Liberman green-lighted the missile barrage – are to some degree entrenched along the border. This, in turn, raises the specter of a potential unwanted direct clash with the regime or Iranian proxies should Israel up its military activities in support of the Syrian Druse.
While the primary responsibility of all governments is to protect its citizenry, this has heightened significance in Israel given the perpetual threat of attack. But there is a fine line between defending one’s own population and communities abroad, even if there exists a deep affinity to towards the latter.