Israeli officials have clearly drawn a line between potential threats posed by Iran and jihadists against their country, putting at Tehran at the top of the list.
Iran’s regional strategy is also a key factor that should encourage and facilitate the normalization of bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel, the officials said, describing the two countries as two democratic states with functioning political systems.
The fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are on Israel’s borders, in the Sinai and in the Golan Heights, a senior Israeli diplomat told a group of journalists from Turkey earlier this week.
“Global jihad is sitting in Sinai Peninsula, on the Golan Heights,” the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the visiting group.
According to the senior diplomat, however, ISIL will not disappear in a year particularly because it is a phenomenon with political roots and due to the absence of a strategy against the jihadist group by the U.S.-led coalition.
“Israel is not going to shape the Middle East whereas the priorities of Gulf countries have been constantly changing,” he said, indicating Israel’s unwillingness to open a new front against ISIL.
“Given these conditions, there is a consensus in Israel on the threat list. Accordingly, Iran-Hezbollah tops the list, Hamas is in the second row and global jihad is in the third row,” the diplomat said.
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