Analysis: Hezbollah and Israel's common interest in Syria

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If the 50-month-long civil war in Syria – with its 200,000 fatalities and with unexplained rivalries and alliances – has created a big mess, a more convoluted threat is emerging, a threat to the Druse community, which may drag Israel unwittingly into the killing fields.

On the surface, Israel is closely monitoring the situation. Security officials clarified there is no intention of intervening in the civil war, but could Jerusalem really stand idly by as 700,000 Syrian Druse face an existential threat?

On Saturday night, Druse in Israel and on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights demonstrated in solidarity with their brethren in Syria. Their political leaders, led by Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara and spiritual leader Moafaq Tarif, showed responsibility and restraint.

“As a Druse,” Kara said, “I’m making great efforts to ensure the safety of the Syrian Druse and to mobilize every player in the world to help them.”

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israel-Druse-Syria-alliance-gets-murkier-406067

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1. IDF Northern Command chief: We are busy with Hezbollah in Syria

The IDF’s Northern territorial Command is busy tracking Hezbollah in Syria, its chief, Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi told past and present commanders of the 91st Galilee Division in comments made available for release by the Army on Monday.

“The most prominent sphere is the change this sector has experienced and is experiencing. In our generation, under our watch, we are facing this challenge – and we must know to change,” Kochavi, whose past role was commander of Military Intelligence, said Sunday The Northern Command “is busy, today, with Hezbollah in Syria, and this is how it will be in the next war,” he said.

Participants in the event toured the northern border before being addressed by Kochavi and received an assessment about the current situation, as well as operational responses to threats.

Brig.-Gen. Moni Katz, commander of the Galilee Division, which secures the border with Lebanon, told the gathering his division bears a heavy responsibility during both peacetime and times of conflict.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-Northern-Command-chief-We-are-busy-with-Hezbollah-in-Syria-406096

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2. Another analysis of the Druze situation

For Israel the one big problem with al Nusra is that they are allied with ISIL and both these groups, especially ISIL, are very hostile to Druze (an Islamic sect considered heretical by most mainline Moslems). Over a hundred Druze have already been murdered by Islamic terrorists in Syria and there is a sense of desperation. The 130,000 Israeli Druze have been pressuring Israel for over a year to rescue Druze living across the border in Syria if those Druze are persecuted by ISIL or other Islamic terrorists. Israel has apparently agreed to help but the details are still being worked out. The solution could be either allowing Syrian Druze into Israel and provide refuge or moving into the border areas where the Syrian Druze live and establishing a “safe zone.” This would preserve the lands of Syrian Druze and not turn them into refugees, but would also be more expensive (in cash and lives) for Israel by establishing a new border. Israel is willing to do something for the Syrian Druze because the Israeli Druze are the only Arab Israeli s subject to conscription and many of those serving in the Israeli military agree that Israel should help the Syrian Druze living near the Israeli border. Despite their small numbers (less than two percent of the population) Druze serve as career military and in elite combat units more frequently than Jewish Israelis

http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/israel/articles/20150616.aspx