Israel Matzav

Peres says, Netanyahu hints: Assad must go

President Shimon Peres says flat out, Assad must go. And Prime Minister Netanyahu hints at it. But will they do anything about it?

Israeli politicians, while preferring not to interfere too vocally in the internal affairs of Arab states, have, when asked, made clear that they prefer to have democratic neighbors rather than dictatorial ones, both for the sake of human rights in the Arab world, and for the sake of peace with their own country.

In the latest such remarks, Israeli President Shimon Peres, at a special press conference with the Arabic language media in honor of Ramadan, said that Syrian President Assad should step down from power.

(I repeat them here since the Western media more often than not ignore these kind of statements.)

“I so admire the very brave Syrian protesters,” said Peres at the press conference held on Tuesday at Beit HaNassi, the official Israeli presidential residence in Jerusalem. More than 30 journalists and television crews participated in the event from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the local Arabic language press in Israel. (Israel has – by far – the most open media environment for Arab journalists in the Middle East, not that you would ever know it by reading the slew of anti-Israeli invective from certain commentators, academics, and politicized NGOs in Western Europe and North America.)

Peres (pictured below) added: “Assad must go. He has killed 2,000 innocent civilians, thousands have been imprisoned. The sooner he will leave the more his people will appreciate it. There is no chance he can defeat the people. If Syria’s ruler doesn’t realize this he has already lost his place. I truly admire the Syrians stance against their ruler. It is easy to go and demonstrate, but when they are shooting at you? It is amazing. Their bravery and firm stance deserves respect. I believe that people who are interested in peace will prevail. Then it will be easier to achieve peace between Israel and Syria.”

And here's Netanyahu:

In separate remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s gave a rare interview to a Saudi TV station, Al-Arabiya. (Officially Saudi Arabia is at a state of war with Israel, but sources in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office tell me that sometimes Saudi and other Arab journalists are fairer to Israel than many Western ones.)

In the very first question, Netanyahu was asked: “Are you worried about the situation and the current developments in Syria?”

He replied: “Well, I’m sure the Syrian people are worried about it, because they are obviously showing enormous courage in the face of very strong brutality. Look, we don’t intervene in what happens in Syria, but we obviously would like to have peaceful relations with Syria, and we can only hope for a good future for the people of Syria – they deserve a good future, one of peace and one of freedom.”

The Saudi interviewer then followed up by asking: “So do you support what’s so called the revolution in Syria?”

Understandably, given how Israel’s opponents (especially those in Arab regimes) twist virtually anything Netanyahu says against him, he was careful in his reply, though his message is clear: “You know, anything I would say would be used, not against me, but against the process of genuine reform that people would like to see in Syria. So we don’t intervene in Syria, but it doesn’t mean that we’re not concerned. A. We’d like the peace and quiet on the Israeli-Syrian border to be maintained, and B. I would like to ultimately, have that turned into a formal peace between Israel and Syria. And C., I think that people, the young people in Syria deserve a better future, you know.”

Netanyahu continued: “I hope that we could sit down one day and I could tell you that Israel is not the only democracy in the Middle East, it’s one [neighboring] many Arab democracies. I recognize this may take time. I recognize it may have its ups and downs. But this would be a wonderful thing. Why? Because, if there’s genuine democracy in the Arab world, in the Arab countries, then there will be genuine peace. Because a genuine democracy reflects the desires of the people, and most people – Arabs, Jews, anyone – they don’t want their sons and daughters dying on battlefields. They want peace. So the spread of democracy is good for peace. It may be difficult. It may go through a period of turbulence, of convulsion, but ultimately, I think it would lead to a good direction.”

Here's the thing. Everyone here has in the back of their minds that if Assad gets desperate, he may start a war against Israel or have Hezbullah start a war against Israel to distract everyone. If that were to happen, Israel would likely respond ferociously. Would deposing Assad be on the menu? Not directly, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an effort to create the conditions in which the Assad regime would fall. Would we gain any appreciation from Syria for that? About as much as we got from Lebanon when we forced out the PLO and gave them back their country in 1982. In other words, not much. Would it be worthwhile for Israel anyway? Only if it doesn't cost us a lot of Israeli lives.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Binyamin Netanyahu, Shimon Peres, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:40 AM