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Source: http://jcpa.org/video/the-u-s-withdrawal-from-syria-implications-for-israel/
Video: The U.S. Withdrawal from Syria: Implications for Israel
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dore Gold - Iran is not standing still with the defeat of the ISIS caliphate, but rather it seeks to fill the vacuum that has been created. Iran has strong territorial interests in Syria. When most of the Arab world backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War, Syria stood out as Iran's major regional ally. The Iranians are not going to let Syria go. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot disclosed that Iran's ultimate goal is to establish a force of 100,000 fighters on Syrian soil. For Israel, there is no question but that this force could be deployed against Israel on the Golan Heights. After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the U.S. could have pulled out all its troops from the European continent. But the Truman administration realized that the Red Army was not demobilizing and, though the American presence was originally deployed to roll back the Germans, a premature withdrawal would only assure Soviet domination of Europe. America then established NATO and defended the security of the West along with its allies. A similar initiative is now needed in order to guarantee that Iran's dreams of regional hegemony will never be realized. Amb. Dore Gold, former director general of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israeli ambassador to the UN, is president of the Jerusalem Center.