And when they do, they will be armed with advanced weaponry including ballistic missiles and WMDs.
Haifa, Israel – If jihadi groups fighting to topple Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad succeed, “[i]t’s us afterwards,” warned Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. General Benny Gantz during a conference last week. “We could be the next challenge for the same organizations.”
The Golan Heights, the border between Syria and Israel, has become increasingly unstable as the Assad regime loses its grip on power and radical Islamist and al-Qaida-inspired elements of the Free Syrian Army – reportedly backed directly or indirectly by the likes of Qatar and Saudi Arabia – move into the void.
The situation in Syria is “liquid, unstable and dangerous,” Gantz said in remarks at the 13th Herzilya Conference on Israeli security. If Assad falls, Syria’s massive arsenal of weapons could fall into the wrong hands. Those jihadi groups would feel tempted to target Israel. As if to reinforce Gantz’s point, Reuters reported last Thursday that 1,000 insurgents have moved into Khan Sheikh, just 15 miles from the Golan, after killing 30 soldiers in a battle for a Syrian government missile squadron south of Damascus.