There can be no more tangled geopolitical web today then the catastrophe that is Syria.
The 4-year-old civil war there has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, triggered one of the greatest refugee crises since World War II, and upended previously existing alliances and understandings among the regional players.
As Europe and the West scramble to help the masses of refugees arriving by boat, train and on foot, back in Syria, the murderous jihadists of ISIS and Al-Qaida battle it out with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his Iranian allies.
It’s a war to the death, a war now being fought on Israel’s doorstep.
In a war between ISIS and Iran, the sardonic view is to wish both sides success. But in reality, Israel faces a very real threat that the war could spill over its border. It already has with the occasional errant missile. What happens when ISIS decides to turn its guns on the hated Zionists?
Further complicating the matter is the increasingly tense relationship between the United States and Russia, who have opposing interests in the region. America wants Assad, as well as the jihadists, gone. Russia backs Assad and Iran, and has been supplying the arms to prove it, arms that could end up being used against Israel.
However President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin sort out their differences, Israel has not waited around. Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Moscow seemed to bear little fruit — not surprising given Russia’s longstanding disdain of Israel — there was a positive sign this week.
An hour before the Sept. 30 Russian airstrikes on jihadist forces near the Syrian city of Homs, the Kremlin notified Israel of its intentions. This happened because of that meeting between the two leaders, resulting in a mechanism between Russia and Israel “to prevent misunderstandings between IDF forces and Russian forces,” according to a press statement.
As bleak as the Syrian situation may be, with Israel and Russia now coordinating, with Israel and the United States coordinating, and with Israel in close touch with neighbors such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, there may be reason to hope that Israel will stay safely out of the fray.
It’s a cliché to say that Israel lives in a tough neighborhood. But in a just-released poll from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, 64 percent of Israelis say they are happy with their lives, showing Israelis remain bullish about the nation they are building. If they can feel optimistic, why shouldn’t we?