U.S. Must Back Israel in Its Cross-Border Confrontation with Syria

We are not surprised that the anti-Israel cabal is kicking in with condemnations of Israel’s firmness in the face of threats and actual violence emanating from Syria. Predictably, Israel’s recent military actions along its northern border with Syria in response – including extensive air strikes and ground incursions – are causing a reprise of the familiar, mindless charges of aggression and “disproportionality” when Israel acts to effectively defend itself.

In fact, however, it seems obvious to us that Israel is being threatened by a clear and present danger to its security and that, in context, its actions are eminently prudent.

As reported by The New York Times, an Israeli raid into Southern Syria last Friday killed at least 13 people, citing Syrian health officials and the Israeli military, in one of the bloodiest cross-border incursions since the fall of the Assad regime last year.

However, the Israeli military said in a statement that troops had moved in to detain suspected Islamist terrorists and that they had subsequently returned fire – including with air support – after coming under attack from armed gunmen. For its part, Syria’s state news agency, SANA, said that Israeli forces had shelled the area before entering it and were confronted by local civilians.

And the Israeli action was also part of a series of critical prophylactic actions taken by the Israeli military, including seizing a demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights and territory in Southwestern Syria, and launching hundreds of airstrikes across the country, including on the Syrian capital.

Yet despite the gravity of these measures, the impetus for them was terrorist incursions launched from Syria, in which the media are increasingly reporting that the new Syrian government is playing a role. Further, and perhaps of equal significance to Israel, is the reported intelligence that the Syrian government is turning a blind eye – or worse – to the terrorist activities of Iranian-backed militias, Hezbollah operatives and Houthi infiltrators near the Israeli border.

These groups openly seek to build a “south Lebanon-style resistance model” in Southern Syria, creating a second front of conflict aimed directly at Israeli population centers.

In addition to all of this, of course, is the new Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s notorious, murderous past as a senior, ruthless leader of ISIS.

In an honest world, Israel’s ongoing operations in Syria would at least be presumptively deemed justified by the vital objective of preventing these malign actors from consolidating power and establishing terror infrastructure that directly abuts Israel.

But of course, that is not the case and thus we have the demonization of anything Israel does. And despite al-Sharaa’s purported engagement in U.S.-mediated security talks, he is justifiably viewed with suspicion by Israel. Moreover, despite the Syrian government’s stated desire to avoid conflict, the facts on the ground undeniably point in a decidedly different direction.

So, critics who call for Israeli “restraint” ignore the reality on the ground and what Israel must do to ensure its security, especially since the security talks have repeatedly broken down because Syria insists on concessions by Israel that would compromise Israel’s defensive capabilities.

At all events, if recent history is any guide, it is imperative that President Trump send an unequivocal message to Syria that the U.S. is all in on Israeli security. Syria, like several other Mideast countries, is salivating at the possibility of getting under the American defense and economic umbrella. An unambiguous message of support from President Trump would be taken very, very seriously.