On the Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel launches another attack against the Syrian capital Damascus while still crying wolf about the dangers of destabilizing forces in the region.
Fortune is a weird phenomenon or concept, depending on the way you look at it. Sometimes it exacts justice in a way unlike anything vested in man, sometimes it grants the most heinous a chance of escape. Sometimes all parts fit and everything goes according to the plan, sometimes it comes crashing down with a little push. Machiavelli spoke of the importance of “fortuna” in the world of politics, emphasizing no matter how virtuous or capable a leader, a country, if fortunes are to be reversed then standing against the current would be a foolish endeavour. As it happens, Israel’s fortunes have been reversed.
Last night it was reported that Israeli Defence Force launched an attack against Syrian government on the capital city of Damascus, injuring four. Supposedly, the Israeli aircraft was there to target Iranian proxy assets and Syrian army bases located near the Damascus International Airport but due to their bad luck, Syrian air defense system intercepted the shots and disrupted the plan by engaging the aircraft midway through its mission. Ever since then the airspace above Golan Heights, the direction from which the Israeli aircraft entered Syrian territories, have been under lockdown and Syrian army has been put on high alert. Interestingly enough, the day before today’s attack, Israel had attacked the Iranian merchant vessel Saviz to disrupt the negotiations for JCPOA’s revival.
Meanwhile, with the coming of Joe Biden it appears that U.S. administration is once again keen on assuming its leadership role in order to solve the Palestinian-Israeli issue on its own terms. Wednesday it was announced that Biden’s administration aims to restore $235 million in humanitarian funding dedicated to bring stability to its already broken economic situation. During the Trump’s era, many such initiatives were slashed and cut while the richest strata of society were given tax breaks. That being aside, Donald Trump was fully committed to giving Israel the right to do whatever they wanted with regards to the annexation plan. Currently however it appears with Biden that the plan has been shelved and the U.S. is back in for the two-state solution.
Aside from what’s been happening in the outside world, Israel’s domestic affairs aren’t faring any better than the foreign ones. Netanyahu was once again assigned the task of forming a coalition whilst not having the majority in the Knesset. His supposed rival Gideon Sa’ar effectively crept back into the shadows and Naftali Bennett has shown no intention of making a move so far. The opposition is too fraught with discord and disagreements while Arab-Israelis have still remained silent despite rather the advantageous position they find themselves in. In simple terms, it means confusion for at least the next few months.
Today was of course Holocaust remembrance day and Netanyahu did make sure that his message to the E3+2 and the U.S. government is heard. He made it clear that by no means he is going to be on board with whatever plan his allies came up with and that he would ensure that no other country would pose a threat to Israel. Interestingly enough, Netanyahu deliberately omitted parts implicating IDF’s role in sabotaging Iranian maritime vessels or attack on Syrian assets and once again solely lay the blame on its enemy, Islamic Republic of Iran. Having said that, even Netanyahu knows for now that his anti-semitism card doesn’t quite cut as deep as before and thanks to the wonders of internet, it has extremely become difficult to push things under the rug. As we said it before, the tides of the fortunate have turned their back on “King Bibi” and the more he rages against it, the more he is likely to drown.
