“...the [Russian] intervention is aimed at halting the advance of the various Sunni militias backed by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and Turkey [and of course Israel and behind them all the US] - creating the conditions for a peace settlement which results in some form of power-sharing between the Assad regime and the rebels…”
- and the expansion of jihadists ("Sunni militias”) into Russian territory and environs. —CGE
> On Oct 11, 2015, at 4:41 PM, Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:
>
> 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
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
> (202) 448-2898 x1
>
> On Sun, Oct 11, 2015 at 11:42 AM, Marv Gandall <marvgand2 at gmail.com> 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
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