Israel To Build Border Fence On The Golan Heights

The Israel-Syria border. Photo by Yaron Kaminsky

Israel To Build Border Fence Between Golan Heights And Syria -- The Guardian

Binyamin Netanyahu pledges to defend boundary against infiltration and terrorism, amid fears over Syrian civil war.

Israel is to build a huge steel fence along the boundary between the Golan Heights and Syria amid fears that the civil war could spill over or create an influx of refugees.

The pledge from the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, came a few days after the defence ministry announced the near-completion of a 150-mile fence along the southern border with Egypt, aimed mainly at keeping out illegal migrants.

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More News On Israel To Build A Border Fence On The Golan Heights

Israel Plans to Construct a Syrian Border Fence -- New York Times
Israeli premier says country will build frontier fence with Syria to protect against jihadists -- Washington Post/AP
Israel to fortify Syrian border fence: Netanyahu -- AFP
Israel to Build Syrian Border Fence -- Voice of America
Israel to build fence near Syrian border -- UPI
PM: Global Jihadists moving into Golan border area -- Jerusalem Post
Israel's PM plans to build Syria-Golan fence -- Al Jazeera

Syrian President Assad: War Likely After Flotilla Raid

Photo: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Photo from Press TV

Assad: War Likely After Flotilla Raid -- Jerusalem Post

Syrian president claims Israel destroyed chances of peace.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Israel's attack on the Gaza aid flotilla has increased the chances of war in the Middle East, in a BBC interview on Wednesday.

Assad said that Syria was working to prevent a regional war but he added that there was no chance of a peace deal with the current Israeli administration, which he called a "pyromaniac government".

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More News On Syrian President Assad

Gaza flotilla raid has increased risk of war, Syrian president says -- The Guardian
'Israeli flotilla raid increased chances of war' -- BBC
Assad: No chance for peace after flotilla raid -- YNet News
Israeli attack on aid flotilla increases war risk: Syrian president -- Xinhuanet
Syria's Assad: Flotilla Raid Ups Chances of Mideast War -- Aol News
Assad warns of new war in Mideast -- Press TV (Iran)

Israel Warns Syria Of Retaliation If Hezbollah Attacks Israel

Israel Warns Syria Over Hezbollah Attacks -- Times Online

Israel has delivered a secret warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese-based Islamist group, by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself.

In a message, sent earlier this month, Israel made it clear that it now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating.

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My Comment: I am not surprised by these threats, but there is no comment on what to do Iran .... since it is Iran that is supplying both parties in its conflict with Israel.

Another War In The Middle East?

A Devastating War Between Israel & Hezbollah Is On The Horizon -- International Analyst Network

While the war of words is escalating around the clock between Israel on the one side and Hezbollah and Syria on the other, analysts in the Middle East and Europe strongly believe that war is inevitable and will break out within a few months.

In this scary context, senior Lebanese sources told the Saudi daily Al-Okaz that Hezbollah has announced emergency readiness in all areas of the country where it operates. Senior figures of the organization were asked to exercise greater caution in their movements amid fears they would be targeted by Israel. Hezbollah’s leaders are bragging that they are capable of defeating, humiliating and destroying Israel’s war machine.

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More News On Syria, Israel, the U.S., And The Prospects For War

Hezbollah 'raises its alert level in Lebanon' -- Haaretz
Assad: Syria will stand by Lebanon -- Jerusalem Post
Assad vows to stand by Lebanon in any conflict with Israel -- Daily Star
Assad warns of renewed civil war in Lebanon -- Daily Star
Syrian slips Hizballah Fateh-110 missiles able to destroy Israeli cities -- Debka
Syria: We're ready for peace or war -- Jerusalem Post
Netanyahu: Israel open to peace talks with Syria -- Washington Post
Frontline skiers ignore Israel-Syria hot air -- Ynet News

Israeli case for war with Syria - and Lebanon -- Asia Times
Why the U.S. is Back on the Road to Damascus -- Time Magazine
Expect modest US gains from thaw with Syria -- The Telegraph
Wooing Damascus to isolate Teheran -- Jerusalem Post
Israel Coming Unhinged? A Loose Cannon in a Volatile Region -- Sharmine Narwani, Huffington Post
Undiplomatic talk -- Arab News editorial

Syria Hints Of War With Israel

Israel Pushing Middle East To War: Syria's Assad -- Washington Post/Reuters

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of pushing the Middle East toward a new war.

"All the facts point that Israel is driving the region toward war, not peace," the official Syrian news agency quoted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as saying during a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

"Israel is not serious about wanting peace," he added.

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More News on the Israel-Syria Conflict

Syria: Israel "Planting the Seeds of War" -- CBS News
Syria responds to Barak: If you declare war, we will reach your cities -- Ynet News
Syria: War with Israel possible -- Al Bawaba
Assad: Israel leading the Middle East to war -- Haaretz
Assad: Israel pushing region towards war -- Ynet News
Assad: Israel pushing Middle East to war -- Jerusalem Post
Egyptian sources: Israel prepares to strike Iran from Gulf and N. Iraq -- Debka File

In Israel, US Envoy Maps Peace With Syria

From Christian Science Monitor:

Frederic C. Hof, author of a March report suggesting an environmental preserve and other initiatives in the disputed Golan Heights, is meeting with Israeli officials.

Jerusalem - The arrival in Jerusalem of a US diplomat with a longstanding interest in bringing about Israeli-Syrian peace is fueling speculation that the Obama administration is trying to relaunch negotiations between Jerusalem and Damascus.

Frederic C. Hof, a conflict resolution expert and senior adviser to US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, arrived in Israel Sunday. He will remain through Wednesday, and is meeting with a variety of Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak and senior military officers, before continuing to Damascus for talks.

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My Comment: This is a non starter. The Syrians have made it very clear that the Golan Heights belong to them, and they expect the entire territory to be returned back to them. Any deviation from this demand would only undermine what flimsy legitimacy they have in front of the Syrian people.

Will israel agree to this condition .... absolutely not since they have no confidence that the Syrian regime would respect any agreement.

Hence we have an impasse that has been with us since 1967.

Israel-US F-35 Deal 'Targets Iran, Syria Defense'

F-35A

From Press TV:

Israel's plans to buy US F-35 fighters indicate its desire to be able to penetrate the Russian air defense systems Iran and Syria are set to receive, a report says.

F-35 fighter aircraft can make the S-300 air defense systems ineffective, as computer simulations have shown that the new US stealth fighters outperform Russian missiles, Ria Novosti cited officials in Tel Aviv as saying.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), made by Lockheed Martin, is expected to be one of the most-advanced fighter jets in the world, said the Russian news agency, quoting a passage from a Jerusalem Post article.

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My Comment: ELP Defens(c) Blog disagrees.

Netanyahu Aide: No Golan Pullout For Peace

FILE - In this July 13, 2008 file photo, a view of the Golan Heights, close to the border with Syria, is seen. Israel will not withdraw from the entire Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top policy adviser said in an interview published Friday, July 10, 2009, rejecting Syria's key demand for an agreement with Israel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)

From Yahoo News/AP:

JERUSALEM – Israel will not withdraw from the entire Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top policy adviser said in an interview published Friday, rejecting Syria's key demand for an agreement.

The two countries could split the territory, suggested Uzi Arad, Netanyahu's national security adviser and the aide widely seen as closest to Netanyahu. But in the comments in the daily Haaretz newspaper, he said Israel must remain on the Golan Heights to a depth of several miles and cannot withdraw in full even in return for a peace agreement.

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More News On The Golan Heights

Israel must keep much of Golan - Netanyahu aide -- Reuters
Israeli official rules out Golan withdrawal -- Financial Times
Peres: Assad won't get Golan if he keeps ties with Iran, Hizbullah -- Jerusalem Post
Israel must stay 'deep in Golan' -- BBC
Israel sets boundaries for the future role of the Golan Heights -- Dispatch Online

My Comment: If one of the conditions for talks would be for Syria to renounce its ties with Iran and Hezbollah .... I would have to say that this would be a non-starter. The Shiite Alawites who rule Syria are a minority, and are dependent on security from Iran (and probably) Hezbollah. Renouncing them would only expose them to be their enemies within their own country .... of which there are many.

Syria Again Threatens War Over Golan

View from Mt. Bental towards Mount Hermon, Golan heights

From Jerusalem Post:

Syrian officials reiterated their threat to forcefully take the Golan Heights from Israel unless an agreement between the two countries is reached soon.

During a ceremony Saturday inaugurating a new communications center in Kuneitra, the Syrian town closest to the border with Israel, the Syrian Committee for the Liberation of the Golan threatened to take practical measures to return the Golan to Syrian control, adding that Israel was not showing any willingness to negotiate the return of the territory in peace talks.

Syrian President Bashar Assad was also present at the ceremony.

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My Comment: Why make the threat now? What is Syria thinking? Do they see an ally in President Obama .... maybe?

Syria Sees Israeli Talks Offer Useless Without Golan

Image from Stratfor

From Swissinfo.ch:

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Friday resuming peace talks with Israel would be useless without a commitment by the Jewish state to withdraw from the Golan Heights.

Responding cautiously to an Israeli offer to open the talks without preconditions, Moualem reiterated Syrian calls for an Israeli commitment to restore the Golan and described it as "not a precondition but a requirement for peace."

"If Israel does not honour these requirements then there is no point of conducting useless negotiations," Moualem said.

"Negotiations will be futile if there is no true Israeli will to make peace and no U.S. involvement. We will not go back to wasting time," he told Syrian state television

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My Comment: The Syrians have a point .... what is the point of talking.

Israel PM Rules Out Land For Peace With Syria

Israeli soldiers check their tanks during a military exercise last year in the Golan Heights. The new Israeli government will not cede the strategic Golan Heights for the sake of peace with Syria, a senior official quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as telling his cabinet. (AFP/Menahem Kahana)

From Yahoo News/AFP:

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The new Israeli government will not cede the strategic Golan Heights for the sake of peace with Syria, a senior official quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as telling his cabinet on Sunday.

The announcement comes after heated debate among ministers about the wisdom of pursuing the indirect contacts with Syria via Turkey launched by the former government of Ehud Olmert.

The return of the strategic plateau seized by Israel in the 1967 war is a non-negotiable Syrian demand.

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My Comment: If President Obama will make Middle East Peace a corner stone of his policy in that region, he has his work cut out for him.

Israel Says Shots Fired From Syria At GolanTroops

Image from Stratfor

From Yahoo News/Reuters:

The Israeli army said troops in the Golan Heights came under small arms fire from Syria on Sunday and that, although no one was hurt, it had complained to the United Nations force that monitors the frontier area.

"There were a number of bullets fired from Syria at an Israeli army force doing engineering work near the fence," an army spokesman said of the incident, which came amid an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has outraged many Arabs.

"No one was hurt but a vehicle was damaged," the spokesman added. "Forces in the field are examining the incident and a complaint was sent to UNDOF which sent a team there. The circumstances of the incident are still unclear."

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