Israel’s ‘unofficial’ reaction to US pullout from Syria: Disappointment

Israel’s ‘unofficial’ reaction to US pullout from Syria: Disappointment Unofficially, Israel reacted with disappointment to the Trump administration’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. By David Isaac, World Israel News While Israel officially accepted the U.S. announcement that it was pulling its troops out of Syria with equanimity, unofficially the reaction was grave disappointment, Israel Hayom reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given a head’s up by the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before the decision was announced, which was otherwise closely guarded and appears to have been made without consultations with senior GOP leaders. The prime minister said yesterday, “This is, of course, an American decision. We will study its timetable, how it will be implemented and – of course – its implications for us. In any case we will take care to maintain the security of Israel and to defend ourselves in this area.” On Wednesday, Trump posted a video on Twitter in which he said, “We’ve won against ISIS. We’ve beaten them. We’ve beaten them badly. We’ve taken back the land. And now it’s time for our troops to come back home.” Unofficially, Israel’s reaction has been harsher. A senior minister in Israel’s government told Israel Hayom that America’s unilateral withdrawal constitutes “a spoiled opportunity, because Russia has been demanding for a long time that the U.S. pull its forces out of Syria. It would have been possible to demand of the Russians the pullout of Iranian forces from Syria, at least partially, in exchange for American forces leaving.” The paper quotes another “well-known member of the political establishment,” who said, “the meaning is the abandonment of an ally. Extracting forces broadcasts a lack of staying power by the U.S., and it will be streamed to the whole world.” The senior official added that, “Israel isn’t interested in American soldiers defending it,” but in this instance there’s nothing stopping “the continued spread of Russia, Iran and Turkey in the region. This is a situation that needs to be dealt with. We can defend ourselves, but Israel has an interest in an American bargaining position in the Middle East as a whole.” READ MORE https://worldisraelnews.com/israels-unofficial-reaction-to-us-pullout-from-syria/