Exklusiv: Israel lobt uns, dass wir russische Stützpunkte in einem „schwachen“ Syrien behalten, sagen Quellen

Israel is lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralised, including by letting Russia keep its military bases there to counter Turkey’s growing influence in the country, four sources familiar with the efforts said.

Turkey’s often fraught ties with Israel have come under severe strain during the Gaza war and Israeli officials have told Washington that Syria’s new Islamist rulers, who are backed by Ankara, pose a threat to Israel’s borders, the sources said.

The lobbying points to a concerted Israeli campaign to influence U.S. policy at a critical juncture for Syria, as the Islamists who ousted Bashar al-Assad try to stabilise the fractured state and get Washington to lift punishing sanctions.

Israel communicated its views to top U.S. officials during meetings in Washington in February and subsequent meetings in Israel with U.S. Congressional representatives, three U.S. sources and another person familiar with the contacts said. The main points were also circulated to some senior U.S. officials in an Israeli „white paper“, two of the sources said.

It was not clear to what extent U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering adopting Israel’s proposals, the sources said. It has said little about Syria, leaving uncertainty over both the future of the sanctions and whether U.S. forces deployed in the northeast will remain.

To contain Turkey, Israeli officials have sought to persuade U.S. officials that Russia should keep its Mediterranean naval base in Syria’s Tartus province and its Hmeimim air base in Latakia province, the sources said.

When Israeli officials presented Russia’s continued presence in a positive light in a meeting with U.S. officials, some attendees were surprised, arguing that Turkey – a NATO member – would be a better guarantor of Israel’s security, two of the U.S. sources said.

Israeli officials were „adamant“ that was not the case, the sources said.

Ironically Russia is the only power able to protect Syria from Israel so I could very much see this working out.

I don’t understand why Israel would want this. Both Turkey and Russia are enemies of Israel and have armed, funded and trained Israel’s enemies. Neither of them should have a presence in Syria.