Iran-backed advance in southern Syria rattles Israel

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The Golan Heights, one of Israel’s quietest frontiers, is showing signs of becoming an active front that could soon bring the forces of arch-enemies Iran and Israel into direct contact for the first time.

For nearly a month, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah organization and other Shiite forces under Iranian command have been inching their way across a belt of southern Syria in a bid to drive out rebel forces fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an important Iranian ally.

Israel is eyeing with increasing concern the Iranian moves on the Golan, which was occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The offensive leaves Israeli in a bind and creates the possibility that if it miscalculates in its response, it could ignite a region-wide war.

Yaacov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser in Netanyahu’s government, opted for a wait-and-see stance toward developments in the Golan.

“For us, a threat from the Golan Heights is not something new,” he says. “Instead of having the Syrian army, maybe we have to face Hezbollah. I’m not sure it’s much more problematic.”

The transformation of the Golan from a calm backwater into the latest battleground between Iran and Israel will add a further destabilizing dynamic in Syria's civil war – one that is beginning to catch the attention of the international community.

“It’s a very combustible mix and ripe for miscalculation,” says a Western diplomat in Beirut. “It could be very dangerous.”

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-backed-advance-southern-syria-rattles-israel-201839518.html

Persia is feeling good at this point. Everything seems to be going her way. I wonder if Israel still sees win when she tried to pick a fight here last January.

[Pooky 3,784]

Persia is feeling good at this point. Everything seems to be going her way. I wonder if Israel still sees win when she tried to pick a fight here last January.

Conventional ground war, Israel vs. Iran?

Won't even be close.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Conventional ground war, Israel vs. Iran?

Won't even be close.

I wonder. When was the last time Israel faced an opponent that could shoot back?

[OriZ 3,157]

Heh. The only difference between the Israeli army and the US army is quantity.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Heh. The only difference between the Israeli army and the US army is quantity.

You won't find a TC that looks like this in the US. Shame.

[Póg mo 1,749]

Persia is feeling good at this point. Everything seems to be going her way. I wonder if Israel still sees win when she tried to pick a fight here last January.

I don't see anyone else stepping up to fight ISIS. We should be thanking Iran, not casting it in the roll as enemy of the west. Israel can't complain either, considering how its own short sighted fear mongering over Iraq and Iran helped create this mess in the first place.