Why Israel Hit Syria

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Yes, in the course of 48 hours Israel struck Syria twice and targeted very specific sites.

All day today people have asked me if the strikes are connected to Assad's use of chemical weapons. The answer is flatly NO.

Even asking the question assumes that the major motivating force behind the action is seen in the context of a US issue - in this case the RED LINES that President Obama laid out last year.
Israel struck Syria because it was essential for their - ISRAELI - security.

Israel has a very sophisticated anti missile defense shield. It is a combination of the Arrow, the Patriot and the Iron Dome.

However there is a saturation point. And this was seen in the last conflict with Hamas in Gaza. At the time Israel was able to intercept a significant amount of the rockets - but some got through simply because of the sheer numbers that were launched.

Syria has a significant amount of very dangerous missiles as does Hezbollah. The transfer of SA-17s, Fatah-110s and SCUD-D's to Hezbollah or even receiving any more arms within Syria would be a game changer.

The SA-17 and the Fatah-110 are extremely dangerous. The SA-17 is a Russian battery designed to down fighter jets. It would be very threatening for Israeli aircraft and could hinder an Israeli air force strike against Hezbollah or Syria. The fact that these weapons were being transferred, that they were taken out of storage to be moved into Lebanon, meant that Israel had to act. The Fatah 110 has a range of 250 miles and can strike anywhere in the entire north of Israel.

Israel needed to prune the trees. They needed to reduce the amount of long range, highly sophisticated, missiles that could be used against them. That was the reason for Friday's attack.

The reason for Sunday's attack was to strike at the SCUD - D's.
These rockets have a huge range and if launched, could hit anywhere in Israel. Again Israel has a defense against most of these weapons - but the threshold was crossed and the sheer numbers of weapons to be used against Israel needed to be reduced.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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