The Great Pretext

Israeli "diplomacy," which uses force as the only alternative, continues to prevail in the Middle East, with unrestricted military and economic support from the United States, which keeps the ineffective Security Council tied up and defies the United Nations.

It is said, and it’s true, that as long as Tel Aviv keeps a war of aggression against its neighbors, the corruption trials against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom another criminal, this US President Donald Trump, affectionately calls Bibi, the Warrior, cannot take place.

But the reality, even more cruel, is that the objective is to create all the conditions for Israel to realize its goal of creating Greater Eretz, the "eternal homeland of Zionism," in which neighboring nations are occupied and dance to the tune of the predator's decisions.

The recent and ongoing fighting between the Druze protected by Tel Aviv and the Bedouins of southern Syria has served Israel to occupy more Syrian territory, something it easily does after destroying 85% of the Arab country's weapons immediately after Assad's fall.

The protests by the sectarian group in power in Damascus have failed to prevent successive bombings by Israeli planes and missiles, a kind of target practice, which have caused dozens of deaths and destruction in Damascus, the capital. Members of Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, are busy assassinating important figures of the regime and the various groups that oppose it, increasing the chaos. This is in addition to the already executed plans of imperialism and Zionism to overthrow the legitimate government of Bashar Assad and kill thousands of his supporters.

According to Netanyahu, the attacks were necessary "to save our Druze brothers and eliminate the regime's gangs."

However, in the opinion of Al Sharaa, the leader of the ruling group, Israel was only exploiting the unrest by attacking civilian infrastructure and trying to derail peace and reconstruction efforts in his country.

"We, the people of Syria, know very well who is trying to drag us into war and who is working to divide us," Al Sharaa declared, adding that "we will not give them the opportunity to entangle our people in a war that only serves to fragment our homeland and sow destruction."

WHAT LIES BEHIND

Israel has carried out just under 1,000 attacks against Syria and has occupied 180 square kilometers of the country since December 2024. The Syrian government has not retaliated.

Officially, the two countries have been at war since 1967. That year, Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights, a strategic plateau on the border, and then de facto annexed it in 1981. However, the international community considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation. The United States and Israel recognize the territory as Israeli.

Following Assad's fall, Israeli troops have moved beyond a demilitarized zone along the Israel-Syria border, which has been monitored by the United Nations since a ceasefire agreement signed in 1974 between the two countries.
"The recent attacks are a message to the Damascus government that Israel is following what is happening in Syria with interest and concern," Yossi Mekelberg, professor of international relations at Regent's University London, told Deutsche Welle. "One of the problems with the current Israeli government is that its only modus operandi is the use of force," he added.

"There’s pressure in Israel to protect the Druze, as there’s a long and deep-rooted alliance between Druze and Jews in Israel," Mekelberg said.
In Israel, the Druze constitute a community of about 150,000 members. They regularly serve in the Israeli army.

In Syria, about 700,000 Druze constitute one of the country's largest minorities.
But it has been suggested that the timing of Israel's attack on Syria this week was also key. On Wednesday, July 16, Netanyahu was due to appear in court for his corruption trial. His coalition government has also become increasingly fragile after two parties abandoned him earlier this month. This could lead to general elections in early 2026.

"Given Netanyahu's display of boundless cynicism and opportunism, he could be using situations [such as the clashes with Syria's Druze minority] to divert attention from his legal affairs and the crisis within his coalition," Mekelberg said.

Israel's other goal is for Syria to become a very weak or broken state, so that it’s unable to threaten Israel, Rane Network's Bohl told Bloomberg.
This seems to be happening, says Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"Damascus emerged weakened from the recent clashes, was forced to retreat militarily, [and] lost the trust not only of the Druze community, but also of various communities not aligned with it.

And behind this is the achievement of Greater Eretz.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSi Translation Staff