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Israel's Support for Sunnis in Syria Was Not a Failed Investment
(Bloomberg) David Wainer - A reinforced deployment of tanks and heavy guns is parked along Israel's frontier with Syria as the civil war there appears headed into its final stretch. Syria's offensive against one of the last major opposition strongholds has brought Syrian forces close to the Israeli-held section of the Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Russia on Wednesday to press for Iran's ejection from Syria and demand that Syria "strictly" uphold the 1974 disengagement accord that set out a buffer zone. Israel sought to carve out a buffer zone populated by friendly forces by secretly supplying Syrian opposition fighters with aid, medical treatment in Israel and, according to the Wall Street Journal, cash payments for weapons and fighters' salaries. Israel's support for the Sunnis in Syria against government and Iran-backed forces wasn't a failed investment, said Sami Nader, head of the Levant Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut. "They don't hate Israel anymore or see it as a threat," Nader said. "Israel is not seen as the worst enemy."