The Jewish State is Not in The Business of Promoting Terrorism. Israel’s “Humanitarian Support” of Al Qaeda “Freedom Fighters” in Syria
The Daily Mail in an detailed investigative report confirms that Israel is supporting Al Qaeda affiliated terrorists operating inside Syria. But it’s all for a good cause. The Jewish State is not in the business of supporting terrorism.
The Daily Mail describes the contours of a strictly humanitarian undertaking which consists in rescuing wounded rebel jihadist fighters:
Officially, Israel says that this operation is part of its programme of humanitarianism, which has provided aid to a long list of countries from Haiti to Nepal. Palestinian civilians are also regular patients at Israeli hospitals such as the Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa. (Mail online, December 9, 2015)
“Israel insists that these treacherous nightly rescues are purely humanitarian… But analysts suggest the Jewish state has in fact struck a deadly ‘deal with the devil’ – offering support to the Sunni militants [ISIS and Al Nusrah] who fight the Syrian ruler Assad…” (Ibid)
The “unspoken truth” is carefully avoided. What the London tabloid fails to mention is that the rescue and treatment of terrorists are part of a broader program of military aid channeled by Israel’s Defense Force (IDF) to terrorist commandos inside Syria.
In a bitter irony, the report nonetheless acknowledges that Israel is rescuing the same evil terrorists who allegedly threaten the State of Israel (not to mention France, Britain and the US):
Many of the casualties rescued by Israel belong to Salafist groups who harbour a deep-seated hatred of the Jewish State. It has also been reported that some may be members of Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian group affiliated to Al Qaeda that has kidnapped scores of UN peacekeeping troops in this area, and has massacred Christians deeper in Syria.
Israel officially acknowledges that this program of “saving Syrians” (aka terrorists) has been ongoing since 2012:
In the three years that Israel has been running these operations, it has saved the lives of more than 2,000 Syrians [aka terrorists]– at least 80 per cent of whom are male and of fighting age – at a cost of 50 million shekels (£8.7 million). (Ibid, emphasis added)
The endeavor operates under the auspices of the IDF out of the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli military personnel are providing direct support (weapons, supplies, logistics) to the terrorists inside Syria, in liaison and consultation with its allies including Turkey which provides hospital services to wounded fighters in Turkey’s hospitals as part of a broader program of support of the ISIS.
Reports confirm that upon their release from the hospital in the Golan heights, the wounded terrorists are not the object of arrest. They are send back to the battlefield inside Syria.
The Daily Mail report is confirmed by an earlier Foreign Policy article (quoting a UN mission report) which outlines Israel’s policy of treating wounded terrorists in Israeli hospitals.
Israel is … providing medical care and other unidentified supplies to the insurgents ….
In the past three months, battle-hardened Syrian rebels have transported scores of wounded Syrians across a cease-fire line that has separated Israel from Syria since 1974, according to a 15-page report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the work of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Once in Israel, they receive medical treatment in a field clinic before being sent back to Syria, where, presumably, some will return to carry on the fight.
U.N. blue helmets responsible for monitoring the decades-old cease-fire report observing armed opposition groups “transferring 89 wounded persons” from Syrian territory into Israel, where they were received by members of the Israel Defense Forces, according to the report. The IDF returned 21 Syrians to armed opposition members back in Syria, including the bodies of two who died.
“Throughout the reporting period, UNDOF frequently observed armed members of the opposition interacting with the IDF across the cease-fire line,” according to the report. “On one occasion UNDOF observed the IDF on the Alpha side [inside Israel] handing over two boxes to armed opposition on the Bravo side [inside Syria].”
***
The Israeli government has been providing medical assistance to Syria’s wounded for more than a year. In February [2014], Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to a military field hospital in the Golan Heights [see photo op below]. (FP, June 11, 2014)
