For the 3rd Time in the Last Two Years, Israel Threatened Military Action to Save an Enemy - by Evelyn Gordon

...Threatening cross-border military action on behalf of foreign nationals aligned with your worst enemies, simply because they’re the coreligionists of one of your own ethnic minorities, isn’t an obvious step for any country. And it’s especially not obvious for a country accused of considering said minorities to be second-class citizens.

Evelyn Gordon..
Analysis from Israel..
08 November '17..
Link: http://evelyncgordon.com/why-israel-threatened-military-action-to-save-an-enemy/

For many, it is assumed that Israel is a racist state that considers its Arab minority second-class citizens. I wonder, then, how they explain what happened last Friday?

For the third time in the last two years, Israel threatened military action to stop an attack by extremist Syrian rebels on the Syrian Druze village of Khader. It did so despite the fact that Syrian Druze have sided with the Assad regime in that war, meaning they’re aligned with Israel’s arch-enemies, Iran and Hezbollah; despite the fact that Khader itself has been the source of several anti-Israel terror attacks; and despite the fact that such intervention risks entangling Israel in Syria’s civil war, something it has hitherto tried hard to avoid–and all just because it was asked to do so by its own Druze minority, which was worried about its coreligionists across the border.

To most Israelis, it seems both obvious and unremarkable that Israel should accede to this request. But in fact, though Israel has always considered itself obligated as a Jewish state to try to protect Jews anywhere, it’s not at all obvious that it would consider itself equally obligated to try to protect Druze beyond its borders. Threatening cross-border military action on behalf of foreign nationals aligned with your worst enemies, simply because they’re the coreligionists of one of your own ethnic minorities, isn’t an obvious step for any country. And it’s especially not obvious for a country accused of considering said minorities to be second-class citizens.

Thus, the fact that Israel has repeatedly taken action to protect the Syrian Druze says a lot about the true state of anti-Arab “racism” in the country. But to understand exactly what it says, it’s first necessary to understand the difference between Israeli Druze and other Arab Israelis.

Ma'an's Temple Mount Terror Attack Report: Druze Are Palestinians? - by Sheri Oz

...The one thing Ma’an got right is when they reported that the terrorists opened the attack against the Israeli security officers. Their report describes how the three terrorists (well, they did not actually call them terrorists) on a motorbike opened fire on the border police “at point blank range” from Lions’ Gate and then rushed off to take cover in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Sheri Oz..
Israel Diaries..
14 July '17..

I wonder if the Druze of Israel appreciate being adopted by the enemies of Israel and made out to be one and the same with them. The anti-Israel news website, Ma’an, thinks they would be okay with it and begins its report on this morning’s (14 July) terror attack thus:

Three Palestinian citizens of Israel and two police officers — also Palestinian citizens of Israel — were killed during an armed confrontation in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem early on Friday morning. [emphasis added]

These two police officers were Druze citizens of Israel. I doubt that the Druze citizens of Israel would agree to being referred to as “Palestinians”.

I also find it funny that they call what happened an “armed confrontation” as if it was something other than a terror attack.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

What exactly do the Druze want? by Dr. Mordechai Kedar

...The Druze position is terribly complicated. They are torn between conflicting loyalties, afraid of all the protagonists in the conflict because they are not Moslems and because they are concentrated in three areas that it is easy to cut off by surrounding them. Willingness to accept aid from Israel will leave them open to the revenge of the regime and the Jihadists, refusal may leave them unprotected. They do not have a unified leadership capable of presenting one stand, and it is hard to believe media pronouncements made by one leader or another.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar..
IsraelNationalNews.com..
24 June '15..

The fate of the Druze in Syria has been occupying the minds of Israel's decision-makers for a while now. The issue became a hot topic in the media recently as a result of several events, foremost among them the attack on an IDF ambulance bringing Syrian wounded to Israel for treatment. There were two separate incidents in which Druze young men attacked these ambulances, claiming that the wounded are Jabhat al-Nusra fighters, that is, members of an Islamist rebel organization affiliated with the Syrian al Qaeda which threatens to murder the Druze for being heretics.

Israel does not officially support Jabhat al-Nusra, and the government explained that for humanitarian reasons, it treats those wounded who are brought to the border without checking their affiliations. Not all the Druze accept this explanation and have been strongly criticizing the medical care afforded rebel fighters. Israel may actually be helping the organization that most threatens Assad's regime, although it seems as though Israel would be happy to be rid of Assad, the main ally of Iran in the region, an outcome which would also significantly weaken Hezbollah.

That said, attacking an ambulance carrying injured passengers is out of the pale, and these two incidents caused the leaders of Israel's Druze, including those in the Golan Heights, to meet this week to condemn the small group of hotheads who attacked the wounded men, one of whom was killed. They called on their brothers to obey the laws of Israel and under no circumstances to engage in actions that defy the law and the rules of humanitarian aid in Israel. The leaders realize that the Israeli Druze cannot fight wars that go against government policy, unless they want to find themselves in direct confrontation with the state and its institutions.

The Druze are well aware that the medical care given Jabhat al-Nusra fighters allows Israel to set limits on the organization's activities and demand that it refrain from attacking the Druze in Syria. This, however, is not foolproof, because there have already been several incidents in which the rebel group attacked Druze in the Khader enclave on the slopes of the Hermon Mountains, and near Idlib in northern Syria, killing tens of them.

Still, the government is paying attention to the Israeli Druze and will, perhaps, find a less obvious way to aid the Jabhat al-Nusra wounded, especially since those of them hospitalized in Israel have announced, before the cameras, that if they meet a Druze or Shiite they intend to murder him. It turns out that even receiving dedicated medical care in Israel does not affect a Jihadist's stand on heretics. What is their opinon ofJews? One can well imagine. And there are reports that the Druze are photographing the jihadists in their hospital beds so as to identify them when it is time to settle the score.

The Druze of Syria

The Druze in Israel fear, and rightly, for the fate of their brothers in Syria, especially in light of the world's silence as genocide is being wreaked on the Yazidis, their men butchered or forcibly converted to Islam, their daughters sold as slaves on the open market. The Druze know that their fate will be identical if Islamic State has its way. That is the reason the Druze support Assad with all their might, remaining loyal even though his power is waning everywhere.

They hear the voices in Israel calling for a safe haven for Druze in Sweida, a mainly Druze city in southern Syria, and for a safe passage connecting it with Jordan or Israel. These voices worry the leaders of the Syrian Druze, because they paint a picture which makes it seem as if they are not loyal to the regime, or have become loyal to Israel. This will turn Assad's soldiers against them on the one hand, and the rebel Jihadists on the other, since neither group is particularly Zionist.

Israel’s great opportunity by Caroline Glick

...While others of his generation, and most Israeli strategists since, have insisted on viewing the Arab world as a monolith, Allon viewed it as a vibrant tapestry. He saw opportunities for cooperation with our neighbors based on our shared interests with distinct groups. Had we followed his advice during the Six Day War and in its aftermath, we probably would be in a much stronger regional and global position than we are today. And now, 48 years later, with the world around us in greater flux than it has been since the 1920s, Allon’s way of thinking is more relevant than ever before. As the heir to Allon’s dream, when Kara looks with worry at the Druse of Syria, he doesn’t only see a looming humanitarian disaster that Israel has a moral duty to prevent. He sees a strategic opportunity that Israel has a strategic duty not to miss. “I want Israel to win the trust of this region,” he says.

Caroline Glick..
Column One/JPost..
18 June '15..

Over the last two decades Israel has managed to destroy its regional reputation.

With our own hands, we have twice shown our neighbors they have little reason to tie their fates to ours. We are unreliable.

In 1994, Israel betrayed the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza who had helped us fight against PLO terrorists for decades. Open season on our Palestinian allies officially began in July 1994 with the entrance of thousands of PLO terrorists – led by Yasser Arafat – into Gaza and Jericho. Arafat’s henchmen did not limit their murderous wrath to the Palestinians who saved countless Israeli lives by working with the Shin Bet and the IDF. They killed Palestinians who sold their lands to Jewish buyers. Palestinians who simply enjoyed normal work relations with Israelis found themselves targeted as suspected “collaborators.”

Six years after Israel betrayed its Palestinian allies, we abandoned our allies in south Lebanon.

After 18 years of fighting shoulder to shoulder with the IDF, Israel left the soldiers and commanders of the South Lebanese Army and their families to face Hezbollah alone.

In its helter-skelter withdrawal from the security zone in south Lebanon on May 31, 2000, Israel left most of the SLA soldiers and their families behind. Those who managed to cross the border to Israel were treated shamefully by the Israeli bureaucracy.

We caught a glimpse of the suffering we caused those who remained behind during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. As IDF soldiers returned to Lebanon they were beset by the families of SLA soldiers who seized on their return to make a run for the border. Men, women and children sprinted across fields to the newly returned IDF units with whatever they could carry.

When we returned to Lebanon that summer, no Lebanese militia offered to fight at our side.

And indeed, after we betrayed our allies, it was hard to imagine a situation where anyone would again agree to fight alongside us. And yet, thanks to the demise of the Syrian and Iraqi states, Israel has a chance to undo the damage. We can rebuild our credibility with our neighbors by helping the Druse in Syria.

Loyal citizens for 67 years and never before asked anything in return

...It is possible that action is unwarranted because the danger to Syrian Druse is being exaggerated. On Saturday, Nusra said its members had violated orders by killing 20 Druse last week and would be punished accordingly; that may indicate that it doesn’t want conflict with the Druse right now. But if the danger proves real, then Israel must help. To do otherwise would be to betray the trust of Israeli Druse, who have been loyal citizens for 67 years and never before asked anything in return. And that would be both a moral and a strategic catastrophe.

Evelyn Gordon..
Analysis from Israel..
18 June '15..

Refusing to help would be a slap in the face to Israel’s most loyal non-Jewish citizens

One of the most disturbing things I’ve read in a long time was Haaretz’s report last Friday that the government has ruled out military aid to Syrian Druse, who are under serious threat from extremist Sunni groups like Islamic State and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Maybe this is merely a smokescreen, meant to allow Israel to provide aid while retaining plausible deniability. But if the report is true, it’s a horrendous error, both morally and strategically.

Ordinarily, I don’t think Israel has any obligation to prevent potential Mideast massacres. Not only does it have no moral duty to rescue people who for the most part would happily kill us if they could, but even if it did, it lacks the capacity. Israel may be the Mideast’s strongest military power, but it has nowhere near the power necessary to be the region’s policeman.

Nor do I entertain fantasies about creating a friendly Druse statelet to our north, though that idea has some proponents. In an essay in Mosaic Magazine last year, for instance, Ofir Haivry argued that Israel should support “the Christians and Druse of both Lebanon and Syria, and above all the Kurds,” in an effort to forge a bloc of Mideast minorities that could counterbalance both Shi’ites and Sunnis.

But as Dr. Guy Bechor of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya noted last week, Israel’s experience with this idea – primarily in Lebanon in the 1980s – hasn’t been encouraging. The region’s other non-Muslim minorities are vastly outnumbered by their Muslim antagonists; they are hampered by being scattered among several different states; and aside from the Kurds, none have even shown any particular desire for independence. Thus just as Christian autonomy in Lebanon couldn’t survive without a continuous Israeli military presence, Druse autonomy in Syria probably couldn’t either, and such a presence wouldn’t be in Israel’s interests. So Syrian Druse would probably do what Lebanese Christians did after Israel left Lebanon in 2000: reach an accommodation with the dominant Sunnis and/or Shi’ites.

But if we can’t expect any lasting gain in the form of a friendly neighbor, why should Israel help the Druse? Quite simply, because their Israeli kinsmen want it, and because those kinsmen are Israel’s most loyal non-Jewish citizens. The community’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Maufak Tarif, the head of the Druse and Circassian Local Councils Forum, Jaber Hamoud, and senior Druse officers in the Israel Defense Forces have all issued pleas for help. Additionally, thousands of ordinary Druse demonstrated over the issue Saturday night.

Refusing to help their relatives – when everyone knows Israel would surely help Jews in a similar situation – would essentially tell the Druse that they will never be anything but second-class citizens, that their decades of loyalty to the state are worth nothing. And that’s not only a moral atrocity, it’s a massive strategic error.