For your perusal, my latest INTO THE FRAY column:
BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD- IRAN IN SYRIA & THE LESSONS FOR ISRAEL.
(Kindly consider “liking”, sharing, tweeting – please use hash-tag #IntoFray)
Only by resisting territorial concessions on the Golan, Israel prevented deployment of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on the fringes of the Galilee; only by resisting territorial concessions in the “West Bank” can Israel prevent them from deploying on the fringes of Greater Tel Aviv.
It appears this week on the following sites (in alphabetical order):
ALGEMEINER: https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/11/23/but-for-the-grace-of-god-iran-in-syria-and-the-lessons-for-israel/
ISRAELI FRONTLINE: http://www.israelifrontline.com/2017/11/fray-grace-god-iran-syria-lessons-israel.html
ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/21314
ISRAEL NEWS ONLINE: https://israelnewsonline.org/into-the-fray-but-for-the-grace-of-god-iran-in-syria-the-lessons-for-israel/#.Whcrr0qWY2x
ISRAEL RISING: https://www.israelrising.com/grace-god-iran-syria-lessons-israel/
ISRAPUNDIT: https://www.israpundit.org/into-the-fray-but-for-the-grace-of-god-iran-in-syria-the-lessons-for-israel/
JERUSALEM HERALD: https://www.jerusalem-herald.com/single-post/2017/11/24/INTO-THE-FRAY-But-For-the-Grace-of-G-d—Iran-in-Syria-The-Lessons-for-Israel
JEWS DOWN UNDER: https://jewsdownunder.com/2017/11/24/fray-grace-god-iran-syria-lessons-israel/
MEDIUM: https://medium.com/@martinsherman/into-the-fray-but-for-the-grace-of-god-iran-in-syria-the-lessons-for-israel-2894c6f4dd8a
JEWISH PRESS: (To be posted)
Several short excerpts:
Israel has a strategic interest in disassociating Syria from the extremist axis that Iran is leading. Syria is not lost, Assad is western educated and is not a religious man. He can still join a moderate grouping. – Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Chief of Staff of IDF, Nov 13, 2009.
…we should not belittle the signals of peace coming from Syria. – Ehud Barak, Israeli Defense Minister, Nov 13, 2009.
Syria is the key to regional change for us. If I was prime minister, I would pin all my hopes on Syria.” – The late Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former Israeli Defense Minister (2001-2002), May 23, 2010.
Just how appallingly wrong these assessments by the most senior echelons of the Israeli security establishment proved to be was driven home by a recent BBC report, indicating that the Iranian military is engaged in the construction of what appears to be a permanent military base in Syria. But more on these—and other—disturbing lapses in judgment a little later…
One can only shudder with dread at the thought of the perilous predicament the country would be in, had it heeded the call from the allegedly “enlightened and progressive” voices, who – up until the gory events of the Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011—hailed the British trained doctor, Bashar al-Assad, as a moderate reformer, with whom a durable peace deal could be cut – if only an intransigent Israel would yield the Golan to his regime…
Israel must internalize the lessons of the past and robustly resist pressures to relinquish further territory to Arab control. In particular, it must be wary of counsel from individuals and organizations, who have demonstrated, consistently and conclusively that—no matter what their past experience and seniority—their judgement cannot be trusted (see introductory excerpts). After all, as the past clearly indicates, when assessing such initiatives, rank is rarely any recommendation…
Indeed, not only have the “top brass” of Israel’s security establishment been hopelessly and hazardously wrong in appraising Assad’s role as a peace partner, they have been equally wrong in predicting his imminent fall – see for example here, here, here, here, here and here…Israel can ill-afford such lapses in judgement when it comes to making fateful decisions regarding concessions in Judea-Samaria that would critically imperil the vast majority of the nation’s population…With this in mind, it cannot for a moment forget what–but for the grace of God—our fate in the Golan would have been. ..
