Why Syrians are depending on unlikely ally Israel to combat Assad, Russia

[TomSea]

Why Syrians are depending on unlikely ally Israel to combat Assad, Russia
By Yardena Schwartz On 9/4/18 at 1:09 PM

Hani’s mother warned him as a boy in Syria that if he didn’t finish his dinner, Zionists would come and drink his blood. Yet when his own government shot him as he fled with his wife and children, he asked field medics to take him to Israel.

With half of Hani’s face missing, Israeli soldiers searched him for weapons before bringing him to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Two years later, he is still undergoing extensive reconstructive surgery. “I heard from other Syrians who had been here that Israel takes good care of us, unlike Arab countries,” he says.

Syria has never recognized the creation of the state of Israel, forbids anyone with an Israeli passport from visiting and has been at war with its neighbor since Israel’s creation in 1948. Yet Israel’s “good neighbor” policy has led to a significant, albeit subtle, shift in this region that could have vast implications for the future of the Middle East. As the Syrian war nears its eighth year, the atrocities of President Bashar al-Assad, combined with an Israeli policy that has provided medical care and humanitarian aid to Syrians, may give Israel a path forward in a region that has long resisted its existence.

Read more at: https://www.newsweek.com/syrians-depending-israel-combat-assad-russia-1102872