Dr. Yehuda Blanga from the Bar Ilan Dept. of Middle Eastern Studies on Tuesday commended Prime Minister Netanyahu for his skill at coordinating Israel’s military with Putin as soon as the Russians had entered the Syrian theater with a storm last September. “Russian planes flew along Israel’s border and maybe even inside it, Russia shot rockets and maneuvered a very large force. It did all that with full coordination with Israel, through its understanding of Israel’s concerns — and with the Russian army permitting us to attack convoys and protect our interests.”
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel conducted dozens of strikes in order to prevent weapons from being transferred to the Hezbollah terror organization. His remarks came during a Monday tour of a military drill near the Syrian border. Why did the PM decide to spell out information which until yesterday was being denied by Israel, no matter what news agencies around the world were claiming? Middle East expert Professor Eyal Zisser who specializes in the modern history of Syria and Lebanon, told NRG on Tuesday he believes Netanyahu was addressing Russian president Vladimir Putin, as well as, to a lesser extent, US president Obama.
“I believe the prime minister knows that the US and Russia are collaborating to bring an end to the crisis in Syria through an arrangement,” Zisser said. “Bashar al-Assad will remain in power and will be a significant player, with the rebels, or even all by himself. [Netanyahu’s] sharp clarification is very important, especially now, during the lull in the fighting, so that in the final account Israel would be considered as a power to be reckoned with in Syria. Naturally, it doesn’t hurt Netanyahu’s position in Israel for him to mention [the raids into Syria], but the gist of the message was delivered because of the lull in Syria.”
Blanga also sees the Netanyahu statement as a message to the super powers. “At the moment, Putin is reducing his involvement because [the Assad regime] is stable,” he told NRG. “Which is a good opportunity to describe what Israel has done in Syria as well as to hint or even say to Assad that we will always make sure to act in line with what we consider important, and that Russia, too, understands this.”
Blanga also believes that “such a blatant statement should be made precisely during the lull in the fighting and with the understanding that Assad is here to stay, so that the boundaries marking our interests are made clear to the other side.”