By JONATHAN SCHANZER, FDD POLICY BRIEF— Multiple sources suggest that the winds of war are blowing to Israel’s north, and that such a war could erupt very soon. Lebanese parliamentarian Jean Ogassapian of the Future Bloc issued a warning over the weekend of “dangers of an Israeli strike against Lebanon. There is information that Israel…
By ARTHUR HERMAN, FOXNEWS.COM— If you still think the future of Israel looks bleak, think again. A few months ago it looked like the Jewish state might not survive until 2013. Rockets were raining down from Gaza; revolution was about to install one Islamicist government in Egypt, and another was poised to take over in…
By ISRAEL HAYOM— Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that he sees the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as imminent, and that this will be a major blow to Israel’s regional archrival, Iran. This is the second time that Barak has commented on the imminent demise of Assad. He first said this only months…
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…
By STEPHEN BRYEN and SHOSHANA BRYEN, GATESTONE— Israeli jets struck something Tuesday night; Wednesday’s guessing game has been, “what was it?” First reports from Western news services said the Israeli Air Force hit a convoy of weapons moving west from Syria toward, or even in Lebanon. A Lebanese army source said nothing was hit there…
By REUTERS— Israeli forces attacked a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border on Wednesday, sources told Reuters, after Israelis warned their Lebanese enemy Hezbollah against using chaos in Syria to acquire anti-aircraft missiles or chemical weapons. “The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon,” said one Western diplomat, adding that the…
By BOAZ BISMUTH, ISRAEL HAYOM— You can’t say this came as a surprise. From the moment that the uprising in Syria started in Daraa in mid-March 2011, Israel was concerned. We knew that the situation in Syria was difficult and complex. There are no angels on either side of the conflict there. We also knew…
BY YAOV ZITUN, ROI KAIS, YNETNEWS— “Assad’s current artillery acquisitions are the highest since 1973,” a top military source told Ynet Wednesday, as war-ravaged Syria seems to be sinking deeper into civil war. The nearly two-year conflict between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the pro-democracy opposition has claimed the lives of over 40,000 people. According…
by TIMES OF ISRAEL— Israel conducted an air defense drill on Monday, simulating a possible attack on the country by Syrian and Iranian long-range missiles. The exercise, overseen by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and performed in conjunction with the United States, saw the successful test launch of four Patriot missiles from central Israel into the…
By YOAV ZITUN, YNETNEWS— IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz visited the Golan Heights on Sunday a day after three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized buffer zone. Gantz and his entourage were able to see battles between Syrian troops and rebel forces from the other side of the border. On Saturday, the IDF lodged a…