(PresidentialHill.com)- According to an article from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the United States has long authorized Israeli attacks against Iranian-backed militants in Syria.
According to the report citing current and former officials, Israel discreetly communicates with the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command to select the majority of target sites in Syria to avoid interfering with U.S. counter-ISIS activities. The United States does not work with Israel to choose targets or demand that all Israeli actions on the Syrian front be prescreened.
Israel has conducted attacks against Syrian groups it thinks are supported by Iran but does not always reveal they had done so.
The article shows that Dennis Ross, a former U.S. envoy to the Middle East and advisor at a Washington think tank focused on Middle East policy, believes there had been a consistent hesitancy about wanting any fingerprints on American support for the strikes. But the United States also carries out ground-based operations against ISIS. This recognized terrorist organization is not associated with Iran but aims to build an Islamic caliphate in the area.
According to a U.S. defense official’s statement, the primary goal is to secure the defeat of ISIS in northeast Syria and al-Tanf by working with local allies. He added that U.S. consent was required to lessen the risk to American and Israeli forces. The official stated that the absence of cooperation and deconfliction would be irresponsible.
The statement did not go into the specifics of the measures used to avoid the danger to soldiers and the mission.
According to a report that cited unnamed U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian officials, the Biden administration asked Israel to refrain from acting in the Palestine region in advance of President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Israel and the West Bank. That suggests the United States also applies pressure to Israel in the West Bank and Gaza.
