Israel Held Secret Talks With US, Russia to Object to Syria Ceasefire

Israel Complains Calm in Syria Benefits Iran

Jason Ditz 

Posted onAugust 9, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsIran, Israel, Syria

Israeli officials and other diplomats familiar with the situation are finally detailing the circumstances regarding the lead-up to the southern Syrian ceasefire agreement reached between the US and Russia, revealing secret talks were held in Amman and in an unnamed European capital city about the plan beforehand.

Israeli officials were involved in the talks, and unsurprising given their public position since the ceasefire was announced, made clear they were unconditionally opposed to the ceasefire agreement, and objected to the creation of safe zones to limit combat in the areas.

The reason for Israel’s opposition to the ceasefire similarly appears to have been exactly what they’ve complained about since, that the believe any calm in Syria necessarily benefits Iran, and that anything that might conceivably move toward ending the Syria War must hand Iran some sort of specific defeat.

It is this Iran-centric view of the Syrian conflict, despite Iran having a fairly limited involvement in it, which has led Israeli military officials to say they don’t want ISIS to lose in Syria, and since the ceasefire’s announcement that they are prepared to join the conflict simply to ensure that Iran, by which they mean the Shi’ite government, doesn’t win.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/08/09/israel-held-secret-talks-with-us-russia-to-object-to-syria-ceasefire/