A former chief Israeli defense strategist warned on Tuesday that the Jewish state was failing to force Iran to abandon its plans to establish a permanent military presence in Syria, despite the success of the Israel Defense Forces’ strikes in the country.
“On the tactical and operational level, the strikes on the Iranians are powerful. But on a strategic level, we are not succeeding,” said Amos Gilad, a former IDF general and powerful head of the Defense Ministry’s political affairs bureau.
Gilad made his comments at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya at a conference on Russia’s involvement in the Middle East, hosted by the university’s Institute for Policy and Strategy and the Washington-based Kennan Institute.
His remarks came hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the IDF had conducted a strike in Syria on Monday night.
Gilad said that while Israel’s campaign may have achieved specific tactical successes, it has not resulted in a larger victory that would see Iran abandoning its plans to establish a front in Syria from which to attack Israel.
“The IDF, with tremendous assistance from Military Intelligence and the other intelligence services, has succeeded in hitting the Iranian presence in the Golan Heights very hard. These are serious strikes and accomplishments,” he said.
But Gilad added: “We are not succeeding in convincing the Iranians to stop investing their resources in entrenching in the Golan Heights.”
The former senior intelligence officer did not offer a recommendation on how to persuade or force Iran to leave Syria, but did reject the notion that the solution lay with Russia, Tehran’s partner in propping up Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
“There is a fairy tale that the Russians are able to drive the Iranians out of Syria. I’ll allow myself, as someone with dozens of years of experience with both sides, to say that this is not true,” he said.
According to Gilad, Russia does not have the necessary capabilities in Syria to remove Iran from the country, even if it were concerned that the Islamic Republic’s activities there could threaten the long-term stability of Moscow ally Assad’s regime.
It is also not likely to take action against Iran as the two countries are currently working together to help Assad fully take control of Syria.
Therefore, the best scenario for Israel is one in which Russia largely turns a blind eye to the IDF’s strikes.
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