The Jerusalem Post, a major Israeli newspaper, published an article on Wednesday quoting Israeli military officials as saying that they had been providing seven different Syrian rebel groups with “large amounts of cash, weapons and ammunition.”
Though the report did not name all of the rebel factions subsidized by Israel, it did name Fursan al-Joulan, a rebel group which had previously been accused of being in league with the Israeli military. This is particularly noteworthy because this was one of few rebel groups which refused the Russian evacuation deal in southern Syria. The report says all arming of the groups ended in July with the defeat of the last rebels in the area.
Even more interesting is that the Israeli military initially told Jerusalem Post this, and then forced the article to be taken down under military censorship rules. The Israeli military is legally empowered to censor the press, though it’s rare for the article to get published then taken down, as usually Israeli media outlets don’t start covering censored stories until international outlets break them first.
Below is the original text of the Jerusalem Post article:
A PDF backup of the article is available here
IDF confirms: Israel provided light-weapons to Syrian rebels
Bashar Assad claimed that Israel had been providing arms to terror groups and its forces had regularly seized arms and munitions with inscriptions in Hebrew.
The Israeli army has admitted, for the first time, that it provided large amounts of cash, weapons and ammunition to Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights.
While the IDF maintains that it was not intervening in Syria’s civil war, on Monday it confirmed that as part of Operation Good Neighbor Israel had been regularly supplying Syrian rebels near its border with light weapons and ammunition in order to defend themselves from attacks and a substantial amount of cash to buy additional arms.
Through Operation Good Neighbor, which was launched in 2016 the Israeli military had provided over 1524 tons of food, 250 tons of clothes, 947,520 liters of fuel, 21 generators, 24,900 palettes of medical equipment and medicine.
Reports first surfaced of Israel providing arms and cash to rebel groups several years ago, with the regime of Bashar Assad claiming that Israel had been providing arms to terror groups and its forces had regularly seized arms and munitions with inscriptions in Hebrew.
According to reports Israel had been arming at least seven different rebel groups in Syria’s Golan Heights, including the Fursan al-Joulan rebel group which had around 400 fighters and had been given an estimated $5,000 per month by Israel.
“Israel stood by our side in a heroic way,” the group’s spokesperson, Moatasem al-Golani, told the The Wall Street Journal in a January 2017 report. “We wouldn’t have survived without Israel’s assistance.”
The army believes that the decision to provide weapons and cash to the rebel groups along the border with Israel’s Golan Heights was the right decision.
Israel’s aim in providing the weapons and cash to rebel groups throughout Operation Good Neighbor which shut down once the Assad regime retook control of the Golan Heights in July, was to keep troops belonging to Hezbollah and Iran away from Israel’s Golan Heights.
The Syrian army, backed by Russian air power and Iranian backed Shiite militia fighters, have been recapturing large swathes of territory and is now believed to have control over 70% of the war-torn country.
While Syrian troops have once again been deployed to the border with Israel, in order to prevent an escalation between the two enemy countries, Russian military police have been deployed along the Golan Heights border along with UN Peacekeepers.
Israel has warned against Iran’s entrenchment in Syria and has stressed time and again that Syrian soil can not serve as a forward operating base by Iran and that the war-torn country cannot be a waystation for arms smuggling to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
While Israel’s military had been carrying out operation against Iranian targets in Syria for several years, it’s extent only became public after an Israeli Air Force F-16 which was taking part in retaliatory strikes was downed by Syrian air defenses in February.
Last year Former Israel Air Force head Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amir Eshel stated that the IAF carried out 100 airstrikes in Syria over the past five years.
On Monday the military announced that in the past year and half alone, Israel has carried out 202 strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria.
Doesn’t the IDF know that once this story’s out, it’s too late to censor it? They already admitted to arming Syrian rebels; so, they’ve let the cat out of the bag; too late for any censoring.
Sure, the MSM and Pirhana Press will censor this story, but it won’t do any good, the alternative media’s already spread it throughout the Internet. Too late, idiots.
I’m shocked, shocked. I tell you. Israel arming terrorists. Censoring news…. almost like a third world authoritarian regime.
Same with the MSM in the USA. Everything about the CIA arming terrorists all over the world goes down the memory hole here in the United States of Amnesia.
Under the Patriot Act (which I abhor), those that give aid to terrorist organizations, are supposed to be arrested and prosecuted.
Which raises some questions: how about key members in the Deep State being arrested? Politicians, members of Congress that voted for funding it?
If the Patriot Act is like most legislation, it exempts Congress. Laws are for the little people.
Correct Tom. If the powerful were held accountable or power wasn’t invested in centralized government, big wars wouldn’t happen. Either way works for me.
The Deep State would stage a coup before that ever happens. Oh, that’s right, they already did, back in 1963 when Kennedy threatened to “break the CIA up into little pieces” and was assassinated.
Rather than MSM, I prefer to call it the DSM (Deep State Media). What think you of that?
Or like the US.
A very inconvenient truth indeed.
Evidence that the rebels that were armed by Israel are terrorists?
By terrorist, I mean someone who targets innocents.
Anybody shocked? Some at this forum defended Israeli humanitarianism — conscientiously picking up wounded terrorists for medical treatment. Of course, the ambulances had to pass by headchopping rituals, and scores of wounded and sick civilians. Those held no interest to the uprright moralizers. If only weapons. Israel and their rabbid supporters will not accept the end of conflict in Syria, and as the interest in Israel’s problems are on the wane in US — they have to do more charitable work. Special ops, intelligence, etc. But things are getting more and more complicated in Israel. Not everyone is thrilled with poking the bear. Russian bear. There are plenty of unhappiness in Israel among Russian Jewish population, thousands of them have already returned to Russia. Being second class citizens was not their thing. Russia has what it takes to get jnformation, and the periodic spasms of Israeli bombing in pursuit if Iranians under every sand dune — will be ignored for the time being. Hopefully, the rabbid warmongers are screaching, wanting mire and more war in Syria. But process of calming the Syrian region is moving along, methodically. Naturally, there us every potential for provoking Russia to try to give it a bloody nose. Russia on the ofher hand is carefull to avoid complicating matters for Trump, as there are genuine forces in US trying to establish a more workable relationship with Russia.
“Some at this forum defended Israeli humanitarianism — conscientiously picking up wounded terrorists for medical treatment.”
Absolutely. Anyone who condemns treating the wounded is a savage no better than the worst of the very head-choppers you’re decrying.
I do remember it, vividly. I admit having no understanding of those feelings that defend the indefensible, justify and intelectualize, moralize — all to defend acts of some.
Hypocrisy of the first order. Israeli rescue of militants took those ambulances past thousands of victims of those terrorists. Their undpeakable deeds have — thanks to the miracles of technology — been recorded. By the thousands. These records are available today, but after the war, truth may come out even in the darkness of Western media. Israel is accomplice to the insanity of Islamic fundamentalism that brought cruel death to many, old and young. It mattered nothing to Israel. Being humanitarian as the whole world well knows — Israel choses to protect, heal, arm and feed the monsters. While the ambulances waded through the thosands of the scared, brutalized victims. Did any of them stop to give help to civilians? No. All the records of hospitals that provided treatment are clear clear. Israel was VERY selective in providing medical care. Good luck to Israel and all those who keep their heads in sand and justify its choices.
An unusually good article, I can see why the military censored it. What a good neighbor Israel is, kindly providing only light weapons to the poor terrorists who just want to defend themselves from their mean government. If they use the cash provided for offensive weapons to overthrow Syria’s government, that’s something no one could have anticipated.
And that Israeli F-16 that was routinely bombing a country that Israel has not declared war on? Those strikes were only in retaliation for something-or-other, certainly not an aggressive action. Such fascinating contortions of reasoning these are by the Jerusalem Post, even while they are far more honest than many media outlets.
Israeli F-16s were not bombing Syria, which has air defenses to counter that.
Are you saying the J Post is wrong about what it said… “retaliatory strikes…”? Yes Syria has air defenses, which they apparently used to shoot down that F-16.
Looks like those “100 airstrikes in Syria over the past five years” didn’t accomplish anything. Can’t we believe anything Israel says?
Can’t you just feel for some, sincere but uninformed 18 year old kid from Oklahoma or somewhere, joining the Army or the Marines because he wants to do his part to defend America from terrorists? Little does he know that we and our best allies are in league with the terrorists.