Israel secretly assisting Syrian rebels, report claims - Israel Hayom Staff

by Israel Hayom Staff

Syrian rebels tell Wall Street Journal that Israel regularly provides them with cash, food, fuel, medical supplies • Assistance also reportedly includes salaries and weapons purchases

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the northern border [Archive] | Photo credit: Ariel Hermoni / Defense Ministry

Syrian rebels are claiming that Israel has been regularly supplying them with cash as well as food, fuel and medical supplies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

According to the report, which has not been confirmed by Israel, the IDF maintains regular communication with rebel groups and its assistance includes undisclosed payments to commanders, salaries for fighters and purchases of ammunition and weapons.

The operation, codenamed "The Good Neighbor," has reportedly been active for several years, while an unnamed source told The Wall Street Journal that Israel has established a military unit to oversee the support in Syria.

According to the report, the operation began under the tenure of former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon but is still ongoing, alongside Israel's humanitarian efforts on its northern border with Syria.

Israel has said it has discreetly treated some 3,000 wounded Syrians, and although that number comprises only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of casualties caused by the six-year Syrian civil war, both doctors and patients in Israeli hospitals say the program has changed perceptions of Israel and helped ease tensions across the hostile border.

However, rebels and other sources familiar with Israel's policy told The Wall Street Journal that the country's involvement runs far deeper and is more coordinated than previously thought.

"Israel stood by our side in a heroic way," said the spokesman for the rebel group Fursan al-Joulan, or Knights of the Golan, which operates near the city of Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights. "We wouldn't have survived without Israel's assistance," he said.

The groups' commander, who goes by the nickname Abu Suhayb, told The Wall Street Journal that his group gets roughly $5,000 a month from Israel. According to the report, Fursan al-Joulan is not linked to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and is not a recipient of western funding or arms.

Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=43223

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