Southern Syria Rebels Ask Israel to Attack Army, Hezbollah Positions

Will Israel Intervene to Save al-Qaeda From Assad?

Israel’s constant attacks on Syrian military targets and Hezbollah forces in southern Syria have killed a number of top anti-ISIS fighters. Now, with Syria and Hezbollah moving against al-Qaeda-held territory in the far south, the rebels are hoping they’ll do it again.

Reports from Israeli Druse leaders who claim they are in close contact with rebels say they’re urging the Israeli military to intervene to “save” the rebel-held territories from the southern offensive.

That territory is almost entirely held by al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra, in effect meaning Israel is being asked to save al-Qaeda from the Assad government’s forces.

Israeli officials have insisted in the past they prefer anyone over Assad to be in power in Syria, but this may put that to the test, as al-Qaeda is the anyone in question along the frontier.

It also risks further undercutting the US war in Syria, as even though the Obama Administration won’t coordinate with Assad, they’re openly attacking al-Qaeda targets in the country, and probably won’t look favorably on Israel intervening militarily on al-Qaeda’s behalf.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.