Despite Words Of Warning, Israel Wants To Stay Out Of Syria Conflict
--CLIP
Despite Israel’s warnings of a harsh response should Assad target Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public demand that the Americans respond to last week’s chemical weapons attack, Israel’s policy remains unchanged: Not only does it not want to get dragged into Syria’s civil war itself, but it’s not even particularly eager to see the tyrant toppled. Netanyahu, to his credit, has thus far handled the Syrian crisis sensibly and responsibly, and if Israel can possibly remain outside the arena, it won’t be involved in any American strike on Assad.
But Israel won’t shed any tears if Assad absorbs a limited strike, for two reasons: to restore the taboo against the use of chemical weapons, which had been eroded completely by America’s previous disregard of Assad’s repeated crossings of Obama’s own red line, and because a blow to Syria is also a blow to Iran, which had been gaining confidence from both Assad’s recent successes and Washington’s hesitancy until now.
For now, everyone is waiting for America to strike, and then to leave again. After that, Assad will presumably resume slaughtering his countrymen with rifles, tanks and aerial bombings. But the slaughter will henceforth be in conformity with the new rules: All means are kosher – except, of course, chemical weapons.
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.544385