OPINION:
After relying on the Washington Times for years for credible reporting from the Middle East, I was horrified to read “Israel incursions, Turkey aggression snarl post-Assad strategy for U.S.,” Page 1, Jan. 29).
On Oct. 8, 2023, after the Hamas invasion, Iran’s proxy Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel. About 60,000 Israelis were and remain dispossessed because of the near-daily rocket attacks on northern towns. On Aug. 3, 2024, Hezbollah shelling killed 12 Israeli Druze children playing soccer. Israel finally retaliated. On Oct. 1, 2024, Iran struck Israel with 200 missiles and rockets. Israel retaliated.
All of this is described in your article this week as, “The Netanyahu government … us[ing] the crisis to strike back at Iran and other hostile forces in the region, including entrenched Hezbollah fighters on the country’s northern border with Lebanon.”
Those “entrenched Hezbollah fighters” were in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which forbids any weapons or troops in that area, except those of the Lebanese armed forces. U.N. peacekeeping forces had failed to oust or even object to them. Israel did it.
The article chronicles the angst of some Syrian citizens but fails to mention the organized Syrian Druze community’s request for Israeli protection and, ultimately, an alliance with Israel.
Finally, to equate all of that with Turkey’s sustained and illegal attacks on the Kurds of northern Syria is a failure on multiple levels.
SHOSHANA BRYEN
Senior director, Jewish Policy Center
Washington
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