News Analysis: Tensions between Israel, Syria rise over Iranian presence in Syria: analysts

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, October 19, 2021
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by Keren Setton

JERUSALEM, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The killing of a former Syrian Druze lawmaker over the weekend, allegedly by Israeli sniper fire, could mark a new phase in the ongoing shadow war Israel has been conducting against the Iranian presence in Syria, said analysts in Israel.

According to Syrian media reports, Midhat Saleh was killed in his office last Saturday in the village of Ain el-Tinneh. The village is in the Golan Heights, the mountainous territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War.

Israeli officials did not comment on the killing, while Israeli media said Saleh was helping the Iranian military in Syria operate against Israel. Syria has accused Israel of assassinating the former lawmaker.

Israel has been acting against the buildup of Iranian presence in Syria for several years. It has taken responsibility for several strikes against Iranian military installations in Syria and alleged weapons conveys. Israel is also believed to be behind other unattributed strikes against Iranian targets in the region in recent years.

In the past decade, as a civil war ravaged Syria, Iran has sent thousands of troops to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad solidify his rule. According to Israeli military commentators, Saleh was helping these forces beef-up their presence along the Syrian border with Israel. Iranian leaders have vowed to act for Israel's destruction, and operating through Syria is one of their avenues.

Days before the killing of Saleh, at a conference in the Golan Heights, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that "we will continue to act wherever and whenever necessary...in order to roll up the Iranian presence in Syria."

Saleh, a well-known figure in Syria, had completed several stints in Israeli prisons for crimes against Israeli security. Hundreds of people attended his funeral near Damascus on Monday.

Udi Balanga, a Middle East expert at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, believes it is highly likely that Israel is behind the shooting.

"People with similar backgrounds have also ended up dead," Balanga told Xinhua, "Israel has the interest to target these people as a warning sign, seeing any partner of Iran as a danger to its national security."

The tit-for-tat violence in the area has been going on for a period. A string of maritime attacks in the summer brought tensions between Iran and Israel to an all-time high.

Meanwhile, Syria has been one of the most intense points of friction between the two arch-rivals.

"Israel has not lowered the intensity of it's effort to contain the Iranian influence in Syria," said Balanga, "This kind of effort will never stop so long as Iran is a destabilizing factor in Syria."

Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and founder of the Alma Research and Education Center, which specialized in Israel's security challenges on its northern borders, said "the border has not been quiet since the Syrian civil war. Israel acts there either to thwart attacks or to prevent passage of weapons."

However, Israel has to play a delicate balancing act when operating in Syria. The presence of Russian forces means the Israeli military has to operate surgically, with no room for error.

"The main risk in operating in Syria is a collision with a major power," Balanga said, adding that "any such incident could risk a crisis."

While Israel, Syria and Iran have so far managed to keep the conflict from spilling over into a direct and full-blown confrontation, there is no guarantee that this situation will continue.

"The chance for a deterioration always exists," noted Zehavi. Enditem

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