ISRAEL RE-ARMS ILLEGAL SETTLERS OF GOLAN HEIGHTS

Tel Aviv, 18 Rajab 1434/28 May 2013 (MINA) – Israel has decided to re-arm and train teams of illegal settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Hebrew media sources claim that the decision was made in the context of tension between Syria and Israel, which has occupied the strategically important territory since 1967. A UN force monitors the ceasefire agreement.

According to Israel’s Minister of Defence, Moshe Yaalon told reporters on Monday (27/5) his country has a clear policy towards Syria. “We do not interfere in the civil war in Syria but with regard to the situation in the Golan Heights, we do not and will not allow the extension of fire on our land,” Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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Settlers, it is reported, have asked for extra training to cope with any possible scenario arising out of events in Syria. In response, the Israeli army will resume military exercises to prepare teams of settlers able to react to attacks.

Syria and Israel have exchanged threats during the past few days following a claim that the Syrians had destroyed an Israeli vehicle with soldiers on board when it crossed the ceasefire line. Israel denied this, claiming that the incident took place on the Israeli side and that a vehicle was hit but not destroyed, with no casualties.

Since the start of the conflict in Syria two years ago, the situation has been tense in the Golan, but incidents such as Syrian shells landing on the Israeli side have been relatively rare. Israeli officials attribute Syrian missiles and shelling to “errors” due to the close proximity of battles between the Syrian Free Army and troops still loyal to President Bashar Assad.

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Though they officially won’t even acknowledge that the strikes took place, recent Israeli attacks on Syria have been done with hushed tones surrounding the prospect of Hezbollah acquiring hugely powerful offensive weapons from the Assad government’s arsenal, and chemical weapons are usually at least implicitly included in the fretting.

The reality is much different, however, and reports that the targeted weapons supposedly ear-marked for Hezbollah were anti-aircraft and defensive weapons don’t make sense in the context of Israel’s official statements on the matter. Yet analysts say that defensive weapons very much are the target, and it stems from Israel’s constant expectations of an imminent region-wide war.

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Though Israel hasn’t fought a major regional war since 1967, their political leadership is always playing to fears of the entire Arab world united in an effort to drive them into the sea. The reality is that Israeli military leadership has been taught to expect major attacks, and in this case it spans the Shi’ite world, with an assumption that they will be fighting a multi-front war with Hezbollah, the Assad government in Syria, and Iran all at the same time.(T/P04/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)