PM: Israel to Fight ‘Bad Forces’ Every Second of Every Day

Just hours after Israel attacked the Syrian port of Latakia, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. He talked up Israel’s need for more security partners.

Those partners are necessary because Bennett envisions Israel constantly fighting “bad forces” all day and all night every day, adding “we won’t stop for one second.”

This is roughly in line with Israeli foreign policy for decades, which has indeed involved nearly constantly attacking someone for some perceived slight. The overnight strike on Syria is a perfect example.

Even though Israel has nominally claimed neutrality in the Syrian War, they’ve also been attacking Syria almost constantly. Often this involves attacking Shi’ite militias, or just warehouses they think might have military equipment in them.

Israel’s animosity toward all things Shi’ite stems from decades of hostility toward Iran. The Israeli state fancies itself as the final voice for Judaism, and by similar logic sees anything within Shi’a Islam as driven from Iran. That’s fueled a vicious hostility toward Iraq’s Shi’ite majority, and the Shi’ite factions within Lebanon, Syria, and nations further to the east.

Ideological differences are nothing out of the ordinary, but Israel’s view of their rivals as “bad forces” risks starting fights that don’t make a lot of sense, and Bennett’s talk of fighting them every second, day and night, is clearly a recipe for wars. Israel’s goal of finding new partners means that those wars will be regional, not local.