تقارير من الصحف الإسرائلية تتناول تدمير الجيش الإسرائيلي منصة أطلاق صواريخ سورية وتعثر تشكيل الحكومة الجديدة /Reports From Israeli Media addressing Striking Syrian Missile Launcher and Government Formation Crisis
Israeli Army Destroys Syrian Missile Launcher After Missile Fired At Israeli Jet جيرازولم بوست: الجيش الإسرائيلي يدمر منصة اطلاق صواريخ سورية عقب اطلاقها النار على طائرة حربية تابعة له Jerusalem Post/May 28/2019
Questions Remain After Israel Strikes Syrian Air-Defense System جيرازولم بوست: أسئلة لم تحصل على أجوبة بعد مهاجمة إسرائيل نظام الدفاع الجوي السوري Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 28/2019
Trump Tweet About Netanyahu’s Coalition Negotiations ‘Unprecedented,’ Former Officials Say الهآرتس:ترامب يغرد مؤيداً لنيتانياهو في حين تواجه إسرائيل حالة غير مسبوقة على خلفية فشل تشكيل حكومة جديدة Amir Tibon/Haaretz/May 28/2019
Israeli Army Destroys Syrian Missile Launcher After Missile Fired At Israeli Jet جيرازولم بوست: الجيش الإسرائيلي يدمر منصة اطلاق صواريخ سورية عقب اطلاقها النار على طائرة حربية تابعة له Jerusalem Post/May 28/2019 The missile didn’t hit the Israeli aircraft, which was conducting a routine flight over northern Israel, and fell within Syrian territory. The IAF destroyed a Syrian launcher that fired an anti-aircraft missile at an Israeli plane, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday night, stressing that Israel will not tolerate any aggression against it. “A short time ago, the Syrian army tried to hit an Israeli plane, it did not succeed,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “The air force in response destroyed the launcher from which it [the missile] was fired. Our policy is clear: we will not tolerate any aggression against us, and we will respond to it with force and firmness.” Netanyahu’s message came just two hours after he spoke to cameras live about the current political crisis stemming from his inability to form a coalition, just 48 hours before the deadline to do so expires. The IDF spokesman said the Syrian missile did not hit the Israeli aircraft, which was conducting a routine flight over northern Israel, and fell within Syrian territory. The mission was completed as planned, the IDF said. Arab media, meanwhile, reported on air strikes near Quneitra. Syria’s SANA reported that “a military source confirmed that at 2110 hours the Israeli enemy targeted one of our military positions east of Khan Arnabeh in rural Quneitra.”The source explained that the aggression resulted in the “martyr’s death and wounding another fighter.”According to Syrian media, the strike took place near Khan Arnabeh, which is very close to the Golan border. The attempt represents an escalation on the Syrian side. It is not the first time that Syria anti-aircraft missiles have targeted Israel, nor the first time they have been detected heading toward Israeli airspace. In January, Iron Dome was activated on Mount Hermon to intercept a rocket. In December 2018, a Syrian anti-aircraft missile was fired toward Israel from Syria. In November of 2018, fragments of a Syrian rocket were found in the Golan. An F-16 crashed in the Galilee after being targeted by Syrian air-defense in October 2018. Rockets from Syria fell inside Israeli territory in July 2018. David’s Sling was used operationally for the first time that month to defend against the rockets. In March 2017, Israel used its Arrow defense system against Syrian air defense. In late March, Syrian media claimed Israel attacked a site near Aleppo and on April 13 and May 18, Syrian state media made similar claims. Israel said last year that it had struck hundreds of targets in Syria, primarily Iranian targets related to weapons shipments. In January, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot told The New York Times that Israel had struck thousands of targets in Syria. But for Syria to target a routine patrol inside Israel is unusual. Syria is already embroiled in new air raids in Idlib against Syrian rebels and the US and Iran are involved in major tensions in the region.
Questions Remain After Israel Strikes Syrian Air-Defense System جيرازولم بوست: أسئلة لم تحصل على أجوبة بعد مهاجمة إسرائيل نظام الدفاع الجوي السوري Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 28/2019 Why did an antiquated Syrian air defense system fire at an Israeli jet? Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 28/2019 Israel said that a Syrian anti-aircraft system fired at an IDF fighter jet on Monday night. Israel responded by targeting the launcher that had shot at the plane. This is the very simple and clear statement that was released. It also said the Israeli jet that had been fired upon was on a routine flight in northern Israel. Syrian sources have reported that the launcher that was hit, somewhere in the Khan Arnabeh and Quneitra area, was a Syrian ZSU-34-4 Shilka and the soldiers manning it were from the 121st brigade of the Syrian army. The main difference between the various Shilka models is the size of the guns on it, or caliber. For instance the ZSU-23-4 Shilka, which entered service in 1962, had four 23 mm autocannons with radar guidance. This weapon system has been spotted often in Syria and its cannons have also been seen mounted on other vehicles or even positioned to be used apparently for ground defense. What that means is that this system doesn’t appear to be of the kind that would be used normally to target jet fighter planes, but rather helicopters or slower surveillance aircraft. The system can be updated like what was done with a new system developed by Belarus, mentioned this year in Russia’s TASS, which was armed with short range missiles and a robotized gun to deal with drone threats. When the Syrian regime forces returned to the Golan border area there were tensions last summer. This was partly because of fears that Iran would use Syria’s return to the area for its own purposes. Israel has said that it struck more than 100 Iranian targets in Syria over the last years. According to Russia’s TASS, when the Syrian forces returned to the area around Quneitra they also recaptured Syrian army equipment from rebel forces. These included “10 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.” That means we know that that Shilka was present in that area. But questions remain about what happened on Monday night. Why did an antiquated Syrian air defense system fire at an Israeli jet? Why was the system so close to the UN-patrolled zone on the Golan border area? Khan Arnabeh is directly on Line Bravo where the UN’s UNDOP is supposed to observe the ceasefire line buffer zone. The location of the strike was variously given in Iranian media as Khan Arnabeh or the Quneitra area in other Syrian media. Russia’s Sputnik called it Tel el-Shaar. All of these areas are very close to the sensitive ceasefire line. Questions remain about why the Syrian air defense would seek to provoke an Israeli response. Over the years Syria has come to know that any rockets or anti-aircraft fire over the border or targeting Israel has resulted in retaliation. This has been the case throughout the fall of 2018 and into the first months of 2019. Syria’s regime is also involved in a massive build-up of forces near its northern Idlib province where it is trying to force Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and other extremists to leave an area that is under Turkey’s control. Why would Damascus create tensions with Jerusalem at this sensitive time? Another issue involves Iran’s involvement. Iran and the US are in the midst of major tensions. Iran’s Hezbollah ally recently hosted a speech by its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, where he called for support of the Palestinians and opposition to US “plots.” A third factor is the presence of Russian observers in southern Syria. After the Syrian government retook areas in the south the Russians sent military police and observers to the area as part of efforts to reconcile with the locals. Russia has in the past been closely involved in discussions with Israel about southern Syria. This has resulted in deconfliction agreements and also frequent discussions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin. That leaves questions also about what the air defense officers near Quneitra were thinking last night when they decided on their rash course of action.
Trump Tweet About Netanyahu’s Coalition Negotiations ‘Unprecedented,’ Former Officials Say الهآرتس:ترامب يغرد مؤيداً لنيتانياهو في حين تواجه إسرائيل حالة غير مسبوقة على خلفية فشل تشكيل حكومة جديدة Amir Tibon/Haaretz/May 28/2019 Giving his statements to the press on Monday evening after the Knesset passed the first vote to dissolve itself, Netanyahu quoted Trump’s support for him, saying that the ‘two have a lot to do’ WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his negotiations to form a governing coalition was described as “unprecedented” by experts and former U.S. officials on Monday. Trump expressed his support for Netanyahu on Twitter while the prime minister was meeting with former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said his Yisrael Beiteinu party would not join a government led by Netanyahu with the ultra-Orthodox parties, which he called a “halakha government,” referring to Jewish religious law. “Hoping things will work out with Israel’s coalition formation and Bibi and I can continue to make the alliance between America and Israel stronger than ever,” Trump tweeted. Giving his statement to the press on Monday evening after the Knesset passed the first vote to dissolve itself, Netanyahu quoted U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for him, saying that the two have “a lot to do.” Shalom Lipner, a former official at the Prime Minister’s Office who served under different prime ministers for two decades, called Trump’s intervention “unseemly.” He also said that while previous U.S. presidents also intervened in Israeli politics, Trump’s aid to Netanyahu “takes it to a whole new level.” David Makovsky, an expert on Israeli politics and the peace process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, offered a similar conclusion. He called Trump’s tweet “extraordinary” and noted that “even [Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush] Jim Baker, assailed by many Israelis, went mum for three months (!) in 1990” until then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir managed to form a coalition.” Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, called Trump’s intervention “unprecedented interference in Israel’s democracy, plain and simple. The U.S. president should respect Israel’s coalition negotiations, not meddle.” Earlier Monday, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill to dissolve itself in a preliminary reading. It remains unclear whether the coalition really wants a new election or whether the bill is merely an attempt to pressure its warring members into the compromises needed to form a new government. If the dispute hasn’t been resolved by then, the bill may well pass the two further required votes on Wednesday, leading Israel to another snap election. Lieberman and Netanyahu met during the Knesset vote on Monday, but the meeting did not result in any agreements. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to convince Lieberman to avoid another election,” said Netanyahu in a press conference. “The reality is that we must be responsible and form a government immediately.
