JJ Goldberg made a similar argument in the Forward a month ago: Russia's intervention is a net positive for Israel, because Israel has a good relationship with Russia, can talk to Russia and negotiate with Russia.
http://forward.com/opinion/320862/why-the-only-two-choices-in-syria-are-bad-and-worse/ Arguably, it's good for both Israel and Hizbullah, in the sense of re-stabilizing the post-2006 Israel-Hizbullah deal, thereby decreasing the likelihood of war between Israel and Hizbullah in the future. Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sun, Oct 11, 2015 at 11:42 AM, Marv Gandall <[email protected]> wrote: > Russia’s military intervention in Syria is aimed at stabilizing the region > and may benefit Israel more than Iran, Hezbollah, or the Assad regime, > according to an article by Beirut-based journalist Nicholas Noe writing in > Foreign Affairs. > > What’s intriguing about Noe’s analysis is that he has close ties to > Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who have argued the opposite: > that Russia’s more forceful entry into the conflict will tilt the Middle > East power balance in favour of Iran and its Shia allies and away from the > US and Israel and their allied pro-Western regimes. Many Western > commentators, fearful of that development, share this view. > > But Noe argues (correctly, IMO) that the intervention is aimed at halting > the advance of the various Sunni militias backed by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf > states, and Turkey - creating the conditions for a peace settlement which > results in some form of power-sharing between the Assad regime and the > rebels. Beyond that, “Russia maintains relatively close ties with Israel, > and has little interest in aiding Iran and Hezbollah’s anti-Zionist agenda”. > > In fact, Russia is more likely to use its influence to restrain their > efforts to develop a military counter-weight to the Israelis - in which > case, it will may prove to be a more effective interlocutor than than the > US, which is deeply distrusted by the Iranians, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the > various Shia militias in the region. Noe thinks “Israel will now be able to > turn to a powerful and sympathetic contact at the center of the pro-Assad > coalition should the conflict begin to pose a more severe threat to Israeli > interests.” > > > https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2015-10-03/strange-bedfellows-syria > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >
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