While Israel addresses Iran in Syria, US officials warn of reprisals
While Israel addresses Iran in Syria, US officials warn of reprisals
WASHINGTON: Israel has been conducting an aggressive military campaign in Syria against militant groups backed by Iran, an effort that has been encouraged by the White House but has aroused the concern of many US military officials. UU
While the White House applauded Israel's assertiveness against Iran inside Syria, military officials say they fear it could be counterproductive if Iran's belief that the United States is behind many of the attacks drives Iran-supported groups to attack the US troops in Syria or Iraq.
"It is a growing concern for us," said a senior military official.
An aggressive campaign
Israel said it has reached about 200 targets in Syria in the past 18 months. Here are known strikes from 2013 to June 2018.
Israel has Hit about 200 targets in Syria In the last 18 months, Israeli officials recently reported, both to block Iran's arms shipments to the Lebanese group Hezbollah and to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence inside Syria. The targets included shipments of advanced weapons, military bases and infrastructure, officials said.
The Pentagon said that Israel is working on its own. "The Israeli operations are independent," said the commander. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, in response to questions on the subject. "However, we support Israel's inherent right to self-defense against imminent threats."
Commander Robertson said that if an action on the battlefield puts US military personnel at risk. The US commanders "would take the appropriate measures" and that "the US forces are always prepared to defend themselves."
The position of the White House has been that Israel has the right to defend itself and, furthermore, that the United States welcomes Israel's attempt to thwart Iran's effort to create an "arc of control" that goes from Iran to the west. through Iraq, Syria and, ultimately, Lebanon.
"Iran and Hezbollah can not be allowed to build an arsenal of weapons on the border of Israel that threatens the region," a White House spokeswoman said in a statement.
John Bolton, national security adviser to President Trump, said during a visit to Israel in August that Israel's role has been effective.
"Every time Iran has brought missiles or other threatening weapons to Syria, Israel has hit those targets," he said.
At the Pentagon, however, US military officials have expressed greater alarm. His concern is that Iran believes that the Israeli attacks stem from the American intelligence that is specifically feeding the Israelis to launch the attacks.
Smoke rises from a Syrian village in the Golan Heights after the Israeli airstrikes in June 2017.
Photo:
atef safadi / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock
If they are convinced of US involvement, Iran could organize retaliatory attacks against US forces, particularly in Iraq, said the officials, where there are more than 5,000 US troops stationed in the fight against the Islamic State.
Iran has blamed the United States for the strikes of Israel; Iranian officials did not respond to requests for comments for this article.
The recent attacks by Shiite groups against the United States in Iraq reinforced officials' concerns. The State Department evacuated the US consulate in the southern city of Basra in September after attacks that the United States attributed to Iranian-backed militias.
Iraqi officials said the evacuation of the United States was an overreaction, but US military officials fear the attacks could be precursors to other members of US service members stationed in Iraq. No such attacks have been reported against US forces in Iraq, military officials said.
"This is a serious concern," said Nicholas Heras of the Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington. He said prospects for Iranian reprisals are highest in Syria, where specialized units in the United States are helping local forces extinguish Islamic State fighters.
While the US UU They can rely more on the Iraqi government to avoid external interference with US forces there, the US. UU They have less influence in Syria, where there is no central government with which the US joined. UU
The United States has telegraphed its concern to Israel and the Shia government in Iraq, which could influence some groups there, US military officials said, while declining to specify what form the communication took. Israeli officials refused to respond to requests for comment.
US military officials acknowledged that their concerns are unlikely to take precedence over the close political relationship between the White House and Israel.
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have forged personal ties that both men have promoted. Mr. Trump has largely supported Israel's foreign policy and pulled the United States out of an international agreement with Iran in which Mr. Netanyahu had spent years pushing.
Israel expects Washington to support its campaign in Syria amid growing tension with Russia. Moscow blamed Israel after a Russian reconnaissance plane was shot down last month by Syrian anti-aircraft fire defending the Israeli F-16. The F-16s targeted a weapons depot in Latakia, used to prepare and transport equipment to Hezbollah, Israeli officials said.
Russia has deployed its S-300 air defense system in Syria, but it is not operational yet, a security official said.
Netanyahu promised during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September that he will continue the action against the Iranian-backed forces "whenever and wherever necessary." Hezbollah continues to recruit fighters in Syria to deepen its presence there, near the Israeli border, according to activists and former rebel commanders.
US military officials are particularly concerned about the backlash of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah units and other Iranian-backed groups in the far reaches of eastern Syria.
"Iran and its allies will always see the United States as facilitators of those attacks," Heras said.
By carrying out these strikes, Israel is not only protecting its immediate borders, but is also trying to disrupt the supply lines. In June, Israel hit a compound , said a security official, near the Syrian-Iraqi border, hundreds of miles from Israel, to block Iran's efforts to move weapons and material through a "land bridge" that runs from Iran through Iran. Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.
The attack, which Israel did not claim, killed more than 20 members of a Shiite militia that, like Iran, is considered to support the Assad regime in Syria. Senior Israeli officials have repeatedly said that Israel will not hesitate to expand its military campaign in Iraq.
-Sune Engel Rasmussen in Beirut contributed to this article.
Write to Gordon Lubold in Gordon.Lubold@wsj.com and Felicia Schwartz in Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com
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