In public shift, Israel calls for Assad's fall

[Canell]

In public shift, Israel calls for Assad's fall | Reuters

Why am I not surprised? :roll:

 

[ecofarm]

Why am I not surprised? :roll:

Because you already knew this?:

"We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren't backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran," Oren said in the interview, excerpted on Tuesday before its full publication on Friday.

Assad's overthrow would also weaken the alliance with Iran and Hezbollah, Oren said.

"The greatest danger to Israel is by the strategic arc that extends from Tehran, to Damascus to Beirut. And we saw the Assad regime as the keystone in that arc," he said.

Oren said that other anti-Assad rebels were less radical than the Islamists.

Or does that come as a shock to you?

 

[donsutherland1]

Because you already knew this?:



Or does that come as a shock to you?

The public nature of the call is new. The actual position is not. Moreover, the actual position has been reported on well before this story broke. For example, the February 21, 2012 edition of The New York Times reported:

Nearly a year into the Syrian uprising, the predominant view in Israel today is the former, that Mr. Assad must go, not only because he has killed thousands of civilians, but because he is a linchpin in the anti-Israel Iranian power network that includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“Iran is investing very heavily in trying to save the Assad regime,” Dan Meridor, Israel’s intelligence minister, said at a briefing on Monday. “If the unholy alliance of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah can be broken, that is very positive.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/w...opeful-and-fearful-about-unrest-in-syria.html

The big question involved is whether the anti-Assad movement would give greater priority to seeking to heal rifts with Hezbollah and Iran than to working toward better relations with Israel. The growing composition of its forces, Al Qaeda leader Zawahiri's recent call about avoiding Muslim-on-Muslim violence (in the past Shia were seen as legitimate targets by Al Qaeda), and the absence of any credible commitments toward a rapprochement with Israel suggest that one cannot assume that the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah chain would necessarily be broken for long. Nevertheless, Israel might well have gone public with its preference, as it continues to see growth in the Iranian threat and any impairment of its Iran's reach could be welcome, even if that outcome is a short-lived complication.

 

[Ben K.]

The public nature of the call is new. The actual position is not. Moreover, the actual position has been reported on well before this story broke. For example, the February 21, 2012 edition of The New York Times reported:

Nearly a year into the Syrian uprising, the predominant view in Israel today is the former, that Mr. Assad must go, not only because he has killed thousands of civilians, but because he is a linchpin in the anti-Israel Iranian power network that includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“Iran is investing very heavily in trying to save the Assad regime,” Dan Meridor, Israel’s intelligence minister, said at a briefing on Monday. “If the unholy alliance of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah can be broken, that is very positive.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/w...opeful-and-fearful-about-unrest-in-syria.html

The big question involved is whether the anti-Assad movement would give greater priority to seeking to heal rifts with Hezbollah and Iran than to working toward better relations with Israel. The growing composition of its forces, Al Qaeda leader Zawahiri's recent call about avoiding Muslim-on-Muslim violence (in the past Shia were seen as legitimate targets by Al Qaeda), and the absence of any credible commitments toward a rapprochement with Israel suggest that one cannot assume that the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah chain would necessarily be broken for long. Nevertheless, Israel might well have gone public with its preference, as it continues to see growth in the Iranian threat and any impairment of its Iran's reach could be welcome, even if that outcome is a short-lived complication.

If they're being funded by SA or Qatar then there's little chance of reproachment with Iran or Hezbollah.

 

[donsutherland1]

If they're being funded by SA or Qatar then there's little chance of reproachment with Iran or Hezbollah.

As long as Saudi Arabia and Qatar maintain their hold over them, prospects of that outcome would be limited. But would Saudi Arabia and Qatar maintain funding and essentially underwrite the reconstruction of a post-war Syria? Who would lead a post-Assad Syria and who would participate in the governance? Those are major uncertainties, as the motives and long-term goals of the elements of the anti-Assad movement differ. At least as important, even an anti-Iran Syrian regime could wind up militantly anti-Israel.

It's no big surprise that even as it has had a preference in the civil war, only just publicly expressing it, Israel has also been wary of arming the anti-Assad movement.

 

[Fallenangel]

'Israel wanted Assad gone since start of Syria civil war - Michael Oren' | JPost | Israel News

This statement;
"On other issues, Oren – who has contact in Washington with some ambassadors from Persian Gulf countries – said that that “in the last 64 years there has probably never been a greater confluence of interest between us and several Gulf States. With these Gulf States we have agreements on Syria, on Egypt, on the Palestinian issue. We certainly have agreements on Iran. This is one of those opportunities presented by the Arab Spring.” "

might explain his statements regarding al-Assad.

Cheers,
Fallen.

 

[Canell]

Or does that come as a shock to you?

No, but I start to get some antisemitic thoughts. I'm afraid I cannot share them with you guys.

 

[ecofarm]

No, but I start to get some antisemitic thoughts. I'm afraid I cannot share them with you guys.

This is the "breaking news" subforum, not the Mideast subforum.

Hit us with your scumbag antisemitic crap. We can take it.

 

[Canell]

Use your imagination, eco.
Never mind, let's move on.

 

[Navy Pride]

In public shift, Israel calls for Assad's fall | Reuters

Why am I not surprised? :roll:

Obama will never act against brother Arabs...He is scared to death of them.