Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to prepare to defend the Druze settlement of Jaramana, which is located in the suburbs of Damascus and is currently under attack by Syrian regime forces:
We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze. We have instructed the IDF to prepare and deliver a clear and unambiguous warning: If the regime harms the Druze, we will harm it. We commit to our Druze brothers in Israel to do everything possible to prevent harm from coming to their Druze brothers in Syria, and we will take all necessary steps to ensure their safety.
What this means, as I understand it:
Israel wants to create a new alliance — inside Syria — with the Kurds and the Druze to ensure Israel’s security. The „Druze Mountains“ area — Jabal Druze — is located in southern Syria, and there is potential to connect this area with other Druze villages and other areas where Druze and, of course, Kurds live, in order to protect the Golan Heights (which are also located south of Syria), weaken and divide Syria, make it difficult for Turkey to establish control over it and create strong allies — inside Syria itself.
This is unprecedented. This is the first time that Israel has threatened such a step to protect a minority of people in another country.
It is also necessary to pay attention to something else very important. The statement of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense concerns the Druze settlement „Jaramana“, located right in the suburbs of Damascus between the capital of Syria and its airport! That is, Jaramana is located 60 km. from the Israeli border. Therefore, Israel is essentially „taking control“ of the territory adjacent to Damascus and threatening the Syrian regime so that it does not dare to harm the Druze living there.
Israel is not sending ground troops there at the moment, but is threatening to use military and air power, and according to this Israeli statement, if the Syrian regime tries to attack the Druze, Israel will cause serious damage to the Syrian regime.
As I wrote before, this is unprecedented, and G-d bless us that we will finally take advantage of the new reality that has been created in the Middle East — there is no more Syrian army, Hezbollah has been defeated, we have huge American support — and therefore we can demonstrate force even in remote regions — even in Damascus!