Politics Washington Wire
Pompeo Scrambles to Reassure Israel Over Syria Withdrawal
U.S. secretary of state heads to Jerusalem as both nations see U.S. troops near Syria-Iraq border key to deterring Iran; farm bailout benefits some areas over others
By Gabriel T. Rubin
Oct. 18, 2019 5:30 am ET
MIKE POMPEO SCRAMBLES TO REASSURE ALLIES OVER SYRIA WITHDRAWAL: First stop, Jerusalem. Washington is keeping about 150 troops at the Al Tanf base near the Syria-Iraq border, which Israel and American officials see as important to monitoring and deterring Iranian efforts to move weapons and personnel into Syria. Israel wants assurances that the base will stay open, former officials said. The U.S. military has said operations there are part of its campaign against Islamic State.
“The Iranians will probably be more aggressive, when there are no Americans around, they feel more free to act,†Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the Journal’s Felicia Schwartz. Former officials have pointed to President Trump’s muted reaction to the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi oil sites as evidence that Israel will have to act more aggressively to target Iran in Washington’s absence. Pompeo heads to Brussels after his Israel stop to meet with NATO partners.
Some Israelis think broader fears that Trump could abandon them, like the Syrian Kurds, are overblown. “There’s no Kurdish Jared Kushner or Jason Greenblatt, †one Israeli analyst said, citing the president’s son-in-law and departing senior Middle East adviser’s deep ties to Israel.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pompeo-scrambles-to-reassure-israel-over-syria-withdrawal-11571391009
