Why Did Israel Strike in Southern Syria?

AlArabiya English

Is #Israel really concerned with protecting the #Druze community, or did the recent strikes serve a broader interest? Sarit Zehavi, President of the Alma Research Centre, shares her thoughts. #Syria

Transcript

00:00Well, fighting in southern Syria in particular is really complex and not least because the

00:07Druze community itself is somewhat divided. Some support the new government, others are

00:13fighting against it under the command of a breakaway faction leader, Sheikh Hikmat

00:18al-Hajari. So when Israel intervened, the Druze's reaction to those strikes was also

00:24split. Some viewed the hits as an illegal attack on a sovereign country. Others welcomed

00:31Israel's show of force and its support. Outside the country, many of Israel's supporters were

00:37shocked at the strikes, particularly when you consider Syria had been on the record as

00:43saying it didn't want a conflict with Israel and it even started dialogue about possibly

00:48joining the Abraham Accords. So we're going to touch on all of those issues, but I want

00:54to start with you first, Sarit, and ask, is Israel really concerned with protecting the

01:02Druze community? Or were these strikes, did they have a broader interest as well?

01:09Both, of course. Yes, Israel is interested in defending the Druze, but also making a very

01:15clear message that we are not going to accept harassment and massacre and killings of this

01:25minority in Syria. And it is clear to us that in order to build a trust with the new government

01:32government of Syria, which is, was, is, I don't know, part of Al-Qaeda, the message should be very,

01:45very clear to continue this way to arrest minorities. And we've seen what happened with the Alawites

01:52as well. This is a problem. And when it's next to our border, a few kilometers from our border,

01:57this is something that we're not going to accept. But actually, there is one more reason why we had done

02:01that. And it's the fact that we have a Druze population inside Israel. And it's a minority

02:06that was loyal to the state of Israel, basically from the beginning. And they asked us when this

02:10started a few months ago, not, not today, or not this week, to protect their brothers and sisters

02:16in Syria. And we promised them that we will do that. And this was a major part of the decision. And

02:23of course, there was a dilemma here of the decision to eventually act and to send a very clear message

02:30message to Ahmed Ashar and Jolani, that Israel has red lines. And we want to make sure that

02:36militias, jihadists, or his own militias, I don't know, will not endanger the Druze, and in the future

02:44will not endanger us. I think this is also very important.

02:47So, thank you very well, thank you.

02:52And we will see that later.

03:01And I will say that this is the main question.

Category

Transcript

Recommended