The US is prosecuting a war against Al-Qa’ida in Iraq and Syria including attacks on Islamic State which is also a US proscribed organisation.
In particular the Coalition has Bombed Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria in late 2014 and more recent dates.
While this was happening and even up to today Israel has been providing a range of services to Jabhat al-Nusra in South-West Syria including medical care for wounded fighters and cross-border artillery and mortar support for Jabhat al-Nusra and other fundamentalist Islamic organisations.
Times of Israel reportsSyrian rebel leader thanks PM for standing by wounded referring to a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu to wounded fighters including Al-Qa’ida / Nusra fighters.
Jerusalem Post reports that the cooperation is beyond just treating wounded and returning them to battle: The documents show that Israel has been doing more than simply treating wounded Syrian civilians in hospitals. This and a few past reports have described transfer of unspecified supplies from Israel to the Syrian rebels, and sightings of IDF soldiers meeting with the Syrian opposition east of the green zone, as well as incidents when Israeli soldiers opened up the fence to allow Syrians through who did not appear to be injured. Al-Monitor reports actual military cooperation between Al-Qa’ida / Nusra and the IDF including the IDF attacking Syrian forces in support of Al-Qa’ida / Nusra: The rebels’ battle, led by al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, to control the Quneitra crossing took place in coordination with the Israeli army through Abu Dardaa, according to Qasim. He added, “During the clashes, the Israelis heavily bombarded many of the regime’s posts, shot down a warplane that was trying to impede the progress of the fighters and targeted other aircraft.”
There is extreme contrast between the US (and world) attitude to the organisation that perpetrated 9/11 and via various franchises wreaks terror and death in many parts of the world, and the Israeli tolerance and active support for them.
In particular why is the US Administration allowing Israel to do this? It’s definitely not in accordance with US policy and practice, and rest-of-world expectations.
Don’t know if true or not (but I trust you), I would say that they would prefer AQ to IS. IS wants to wipe Israel off the face of the planet and has no desire to respect boundaries. AQ on the other hand would allow Israel to exist if they payed them taxes.
They may find out soon enough. Islamic State has entered the Golan area quite recently. Here they are having a minor turf war with some locals in Quneitra last week.
Can’t say I have any actual insight into the specific situation at hand, but in the Middle East the web of relationships between the various actors is… complex, to say the least ; and it’s not at all uncommon for groups that *thoroughly *hate each other to nevertheless join forces in order to gang up on groups that they hate even more or that are more immediate and pressing concerns. See Constant Intractable Madness for reference.
And if you believe the US is not doing the exact same thing, you haven’t been paying attention.
jezzaOZ, this is so obviously not suitable for General Questions I have to suspect you are trolling by putting it in this forum. You’ve been around long enough so you should be amply aware that if you have a question that is basically political it goes in Great Debates. Do not do this again.
Actually, the opposite seems reasonably common as well. Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra have taken time out from battle against the Secular Syrian State to beat the crap out of each other. That battle has now moved into the Golan and it should prove interesting which al-Qa’ida faction ends up with Israeli support.
No, it’s exactly in accordance with US policy and practice. The US has been playing hot & cold with the rebels for ages.
I mean, check out a few headlines:
June 26, 2014
Obama Proposes $500 Million to Aid Syrian Rebels
September 19, 2014
US Gives $500m in Aid, Weapons and Training to Syrian Rebels in Fight Against Isis
Jan. 16, 2015
U.S. to Begin Deploying Troops to Aid Syrian Rebel Training
01.27.15
Exclusive: Obama Cuts Off Syrian Rebels’ Cash
Feb 19, 2015
Syria conflict: US and Turkey agree Syrian rebels deal: Turkey and the US have signed an agreement to train and arm moderate Syrian opposition forces taking on Islamic State (IS) militants.
March 1, 2015
Syrian rebel group that got U.S. aid dissolves
April 29, 2015
U.S. allies in Middle East ramping up support for rebel forces in Syria
So this week, Israel’s giving the rebels aid? Sure. Why not? Is that for or against US policy? Well, who even knows? I mean, who knows - Israel might even be doing it because the US asked them to.
The only real plan the US has in Syria is “Do not get dragged into a ground war”. Everything else is subject to change according to short term needs.
If you read my links above you’ll see that’s incorrect. In particular the IDF is reported to have supported an al-Qa’ida / Nusra attack on the Quneitra border crossing and there are photos of IDF soldiers and Al-Qa’ida / Nusra forces cooperating on the crossing including passing supplies, people, and wounded.
This i24 News report also says they do. Asked whether Israel does, in fact, hospitalize members of al-Nusra and Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State organization), the military spokesman’s office said: “In the past two years the Israel Defense Forces have been engaged in humanitarian, life-saving aid to wounded Syrians, irrespective of their identity.”
??? Nothing in what you cited about actually aiding either Al-Qaida or ISIS except insinuations. From further down in that article:
According to Israel’s health ministry, so far some 1,000 Syrians have been treated in four Israeli hospitals. Many of the wounded are civilians, and some are members of the secular Free Syrian Army rebel group. Doctors say most arrive in serious condition, some even unconscious, dehydrated and with infected wounds. Some lose a lot of blood before reaching medical care in Israel.
I take it you didn’t read the link. Here’s a pithier bit for you:
*Members of Israel’s Druze minority are protesting Monday against the hospitalization in Israel of wounded Syrian fighters from the al-Qaida linked al-Nusra Front.
A statement issued by a group of Druze activists involved in humanitarian aid to their brethren in Syria accuses the Israeli government of supporting radical Sunni factions fighting against the Syrian government – by enabling them to get medical care. The small Druze community in Israel, like the Druze in neighboring Syria and Lebanon, by and large support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, favoring him over the Islamist rebels seeking to topple him.*
The leading Israeli paper Yediot Acharonot published an analysis on the situation in Syria last weekend; here are some excerpts from an abbreviated translationI found on their English website (the original article was much longher and more detailed):
.
In short, according to everything I’ve seen, Israel hasn’t decided to support either side in the conflict, at least on the strategic level. Its goals are more short-term - to keep its border with Syria quiet, and to prevent Hezbollah (still its no. 1 enemy) from transporting heavy weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
The Wall Street Journal also reports Israel is treating Jabhat al-Nusra fighters. Perhaps you should contact them for proof?
Regarding the Druze, why should they lie about it? They dislike all the Golan Islamists and they are in a much better position to know who is being treated than most.
“Israeli officials deny this, saying they don’t interfere in the Syrian conflict and have no contact with the rebels except to provide humanitarian assistance to wounded Syrians.”
By the way - the article claims in its first paragraph that “the complexities of the Syrian war raging in the plains below are increasingly straining Israel’s ties with the U.S.”. Then completely drops the premise and has no explanation as to exactly how the ties are strained due to those complexities.
They are very pro-Assad. Assad is trying to demonize all his opposition with a true and tried method of claiming that Israel helps them. That’s a very common propaganda lie in the Middle East. Everyone claims that the other side is helped by Israel.
Israel definitely helped the phalangists in Lebanon and then used them cynically to control parts of Lebanon and act as a defacto Israeli border force.
Right now they are helpingthe Egyptian military against Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists.
Haaretz says Israel is secretly cooperating with Saudi Arabia in a possible attack on Iran
And Syria? Israel is not really a major item in the Government intervention story. It’s almost all Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Jordan who are the acknowledged bad-guys.
I wouldn’t. See the relevant Pit thread: Is jezzaOZ a bigot or just a complete moron?, in which jezzaOZ is called out for linking to, and relying upon, information posted on “TheZog” webpage.
(If you’re not up on your acronyms, “ZOG” stands for “Zionist Occupational Government”, a code term used by extreme anti-semites to refer to the US government, which they allege is under the control of Zionists.)