By MARK LANDLER, NY TIMES— In a clear warning to Syria to stop the transfer of advanced weapons to Islamic militants in the region, a senior Israeli official signaled on Wednesday that Israel was considering additional military strikes to prevent that from happening and that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, would face crippling consequences if…
By DEBKAFILE— Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Netanyahu ended their three-hour meeting in Sochi Tuesday, May 14, at loggerheads on Syria. In fact, Putin warned his guest that Israel and its army, the IDF, were heading for war with Syria in which Russia might well be involved – and not just through the…
By MICHAL SHMULOVICH, TIMES OF ISRAEL— Iran has convinced Syria to allow Hezbollah to open a “new front” against Israel in the Golan Heights, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Wednesday. Tehran, seeking to prevent the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, asked Damascus if Hezbollah could set up a new military front against…
By ISRAEL HAYOM— Syria will “give Hezbollah everything” in recognition of its support and will follow the terror group’s model of “resistance” against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying, AFP reported. Assad’s comments, published by Al-Akhbar, reportedly came during meetings with Lebanese visitors in Damascus and appeared intended to…
By REUTERS— Israel’s air strikes on Syria could add pressure on the Obama administration to intervene in Syria, a key Republican said on Sunday, but the US government faces tough questions on how it can help without adding to the conflict. Hours after Israeli jets bombed Syria on Sunday for the second time in 48…
By ISRAEL HAYOM— Although the veil of secrecy over the strikes that occurred in Syria in recent days has not yet been lifted, something is clear: Israel appears to be working to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Syria and Hezbollah are reluctant to respond and the Obama administration continues to be…
By DEBKAFILE-— Israeli Air Force jets were reported flying over Damascus in the last few hours by foreign sources. According to debkafile’s Iranian and intelligence sources, Iran has been pushing Bashar Assad hard to let Hizballah have sophisticated weapons, including self-propelled SA-17 interceptor missile systems. Tehran is reminding the Syrian ruler of the debt he…
By JEFF JACOBY— What so often motivated Europe’s appeasers, Winston Churchill understood, was cowardice and dishonor. “Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last,” he said of the political elites who thought the best way to confront the threat posed by Nazi Germany was to avoid confronting…
By BARRY RUBIN, GLORIA— Here’s the perfect parable for understanding not just the contemporary Middle East but the wider world today. So far, it’s only being covered in the Finnish media which, I assume, means nobody outside that country knows about it. Two unarmed Finnish soldiers assigned to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)…
By YITZHAK BENHORIN, YNET-— The White House on Thursday warned Syria not to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, as tensions mounted following reported Israeli raids on a military research center and a weapons convoy. “Syria should not further destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah,” said Ben Rhodes, a US deputy national security advisor. The…