Netanyahu Plays With Fire on All Fronts as His Forever War Drags on - Israel News - Haaretz.com
The drama of Israel's wildfires pushed another developing crisis out of the media spotlight, and sure enough, there was a significant incident overnight into Friday: Israel bombed near the presidential palace in Damascus, with the Prime Minister's Office saying: "We will not permit Syrian troops to move south of Damascus, or any threat to the Druze community."
Ever since the toppling of the Assad regime in December, Israel has had complex relations with the new government, which is basically jihadis in suits. The new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who during most of the civil war was known as the Islamist leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, hasn't yet crafted a long-term policy on Israel. For now, he's pursuing the remnants of the previous regime, enjoying the full support of Turkey and rapidly improving ties with the West, which is ignoring his terrorist past.
Al-Sharaa complains about Israel's takeover of the Syrian part of Mount Hermon nnd chunks of the Syrian section of the Golan Heights, but he's willing to consider the possibility of a peace agreement in the future.
Armed men at the funeral in Damascus Tuesday of seven Druze killed in clashes with the Syrian security forces.Credit: Louai Beshara/AFP
Since December, Israel has established a string of strongholds in Syria, and it's consistently attacking arms warehouses and other military targets across its northeastern neighbor. It doesn't suffice with destroying weapons stockpiles left behind by the Assad regime, it's sending signals so that the new regime won't encourage attacks on Israel near the border.
Israel is also sending signals so that Hezbollah stays out of this theater, and in a more complex way, it's doing the same with Turkey in an attempt to limit Ankara's influence in southern Syria.
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Complicating all this is the Druze question. The new regime is hostile to the community, seeing it as an ally of the previous Alawite regime. In areas including the Jabal al-Druze region near the Jordanian border, the Druze are suffering harassment that sometimes ends in massacres.
Last week saw a serious escalation, mainly around the town of Jaramana southeast of Damascus. It began with a false report of slurs against the Prophet Mohammed, which on Tuesday was used as a pretext for a severe attack by extremist Sunni gunmen, who were held at bay by Druze militias. Wednesday saw heavy battles in southern Damascus, including forces from the new government that reportedly tried to separate the two sides.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting northern Gaza last month.Credit: Haim Zach/GPO
Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that Israel won't let Syria's Druze be harmed, and on Wednesday Israeli drones attacked gunmen in the Damascus area. According to Katz, this was "an extremist group preparing further attacks against the Druze."
In the hours before the Israeli attack, Druze Israeli leaders put heavy pressure on the government to intervene. On Thursday morning, Memorial Day, Druze citizens blocked key intersections in northern Israel, demanding that action be taken. The Druze are increasingly concerned; some have reportedly crossed into Syria to help relatives there.
The backdrop is the ongoing crisis between Netanyahu's Likud party and the Druze community regarding the 2018 Basic Law declaring Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people, a law that discriminates against the Druze. Over the past year, Netanyahu has tried to reconcile with the community, a traditional pillar of his party.
In recent days, the prime minister has held several security-related meetings on Syria. Israeli ties with and obligations to the Druze are deep and long-standing, but anyone confronting the new Syrian regime is risking military friction in the north.
Ever since October 7, 2023, Israel has been more aggressive regarding its borders, declaring that terrorist monsters will no longer be unhindered as they plan massacres next door. In his Memorial Day speech, Katz said the conclusion drawn from Hamas' atrocities was that the IDF should always be a buffer between Israeli citizens and the enemy – in Syria, in southern Lebanon, in the refugee camps in the northern West Bank and in "security areas around Gaza."
Given the tensions in Syria, additional Israeli forces have been put on high alert. This is happening in sync with preparations for a possible ramping up of Israel's latest offensive in the Gaza Strip. Still, for now, the IDF's deployment has been limited; there has been no hasty mobilization of reservists.
At the moment, in preparation for increased pressure on Hamas (but without plans to conquer the entire enclave), reservists have been given notice of a possible rapid mobilization, but not to Gaza. The intention is to send them to the northern border and the West Bank, freeing up conscript units for Gaza.
Defense Minister Israel Katz at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on Wednesday.Credit: Naama Grynbaum
So where do we stand nearly a year and seven months after Hamas spent a day occupying communities along the Gaza border?
Israel is again preparing to mobilize reservists and threatening to expand its operations in Gaza, while considering what could be interpreted as a deliberate escalation against the new regime in Syria to help the Druze. There have also been reports from Lebanon in recent days about threats of a new IDF operation there.
All this is happening amid a crisis in the reservist units, with some reporting that only 50 to 70 percent of people are showing up. The wear and tear and exhaustion plaguing the conscript army, which now lacks many of its combat soldiers, is well-known to the security cabinet and the wider government.
And yet, given what for now seems like an American veto on an Israeli attack on Iran, it seems Netanyahu and his governing coalition are playing with fire on all fronts. How deep will Israel operate in enemy territory, what will its objectives be and how long will they continue, and on how many fronts can Israel fight when Israeli society is so riven?
These are questions for the weak. What's important now is to continue this war forever.
And let's not forget the boasting by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in the settlement of Eli this week. "Fateful days are approaching," he said. "Prime minister, this is the time to change history. You and we don't have a mandate to miss this opportunity."
The era of miracles, as described by Smotrich and his ilk, is only getting longer. For the government, the only problem is its citizens who are having a hard time discerning all the greatness.