Orientalist admits Israel's annexation of Syrian Druze territories

Israel, amid the political crisis in Syria, is likely to be able to annex some of the territories of the neighboring country where the Druze live. In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unleashed by the victory of his associate Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. This opinion was shared with Izvestia on December 18 by Sergei Balmasov, an expert of the Middle East Institute and an expert of the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs.

"Israel has a project to alienate the territory of the Syrian Druze, and they have been implementing this for a long time. <...> There are different options: either the creation of a Druze republic or incorporation into Israel at all. Especially Netanyahu has a friend Trump in the States, he will not have a stop, a limiter of his actions," he noted.

According to him, the Druze are loyal to Israel because Tel Aviv has been soft on them since at least 2013. At the same time, Israel will act cautiously on the territory of Syria so as not to have a direct clash with Turkey, which can also claim some and not insignificant parts of the country, the orientalist believes.

On the eve of the UN Security Council reaffirmed the commitment to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria and called on Israeli forces to fulfill the terms of the Disengagement Agreement of 1974. Before that, the foreign ministers of eight Arab countries, including Jordan, advocated the cessation of hostilities on Syrian territory, and the Russian Foreign Ministry called the way to normalize the situation in Syria an inclusive dialogue.

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On December 8, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after negotiations with the opposition, left the post of head of state and left the country, instructing to carry out the transfer of power peacefully. The National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces of Syria said it was working to form a transitional authority. A referendum is expected to be held in the country.

Against the backdrop of these events in Israel said that the agreement with Syria on the delineation is terminated due to the withdrawal of Syrian troops. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deployed forces along the Syrian border, took control of the Hermon mountain range and struck Syrian targets several times.

The situation in Syria escalated as a result of a major attack by militias in Aleppo and Idlib, which began on November 28 and led to a Syrian army response against the militants.