Scoop: Israel and Jordan held secret talks on Syria

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

Updated 12 hours ago


Israel and Jordan conducted secret talks on Friday to coordinate about the situation in Syria, three Israeli officials told Axios.

Why it matters: The fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime has left a fragile state, a chemical weapons stockpile and numerous different armed rebel groups, some of them Islamist organizations once affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Israeli forces are striking military sites across Syria and seized an area in the Golan Heights on the Syrian side of the border between the two countries. The Syrian mission to the United Nations says Israel's capture of the territory is a violation of Syria's sovereignty.

Israel and Jordan, which also borders Syria, say they want to work together on their common security concerns about the situation in the country.

Jordan is also a key mediator between Israel and the Syrian rebel groups, including the Sunni Islamist opposition group Hayʼat Tahrir ash-Sham (HTS) that led the revolution that toppled the Assad regime, an Israeli official said.

Behind the scenes: The director of the Israeli Shin Bet security agency and senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers met on Friday with the director of the Jordanian general intelligence service, Ahmad Husni, and senior Jordanian military commanders, the Israeli officials said.

Two Israeli officials said they discussed the situation in Syria and both Israel's and Jordan's engagement with the rebel groups that are now forming a transitional government.

The officials said they also discussed the growing threat of weapons smuggling by Iran through Jordan to armed groups in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which could dramatically escalate violence in the Palestinian territory.

The IDF, Shin Bet and Jordanian embassy in Washington, DC declined to comment.

Driving the news: Over the past 10 days, the Israeli military has begun occupying Syrian territory in a border zone established decades ago at the end of the Yom Kippur War. Israeli forces are also occupying several other strategic locations, including the Syrian military outpost on Mount Hermon, which is the highest point in the region.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/12/14/syria-israel-jordan-secret-talks

[moniss]

1. Is Jordan really that stupid that they don't see

a pattern repeating here. Accuse countries of having weapons smuggling problem, declare them not doing enough to stop it, use that to justify bombing them up. Final step is carve off a hunk.

[EX500rider]

3. Well known that Iran has been shipping weapons to Hezbollah via Syria

Not surprising Israel is not fond of that

[moniss]

4. That isn't the issue in my posting. It is that

there are ways to handle things without this level of destruction of countries and the pattern just keeps repeating. Why does Jordan think it will be any different for them? Agreements mean nothing in this region.

[Hieronymus Phact]

5. There's a difference

There's a difference between countries at war and countries at peace.
Syria and Israel are at war, and Jordan and Israel have a peace treaty.
Is that really hard to understand?

[moniss]

6. You miss the point. Egypt and Israel

have a peace treaty. They are not close chums and are kept separated from each other's throat in the Sinai by an International Force/Zone. Despite their peace treaty they are at military loggerheads over the zone, on the Egyptian side, of the Egypt/Gaza border with Israel claiming a right to station troops on that Egyptian side of the line. Israels peace treaty with Jordan has not kept it from violating Jordanian air space repeatedly when attacking Iran. As I said agreements mean nothing in this region. To any of the parties. Going on for over 100 years and all of the parties helped to commit various violations by the same major players claiming to "care about the people" and "just want peace". Is that really that hard to understand?

[Hieronymus Phact]

7. huh?

All of the parties don't "just want peace" that's the problem. the Syrians never just wanted peace, They spent 20 years bombing civilians from the Golan Heights before the Israelis took it away. Now everyone rags on the Israelis for doing that. There is no state in the world that would pass an opportunity to destroy weapons intended to be used on them. Boo-Hoo for the weapons.

[moniss]

8. Once again you miss the point. The reference

to "care about the people" and "just want peace" is not about Israel. It is about the US, France, Great Britain etc. Major players. The only country in the Middle East that comes anywhere close to such a definition is Saudi Arabia.

[C0RI0LANUS]

2. Background info on King Abdullah II of Jordan and his intelligence apparatus.

King Abdullah II of Jordan is a UK Sandhurst Military Academy graduate and former Special Forces officer.

Jordanian intelligence (the GID) is reportedly one of the most important and professional intelligence agencies in the Middle East; GID has been instrumental in foiling several terrorist attacks both in Jordan and around the world.

The smartest thing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu did was to consult with the Hashemite Kingdom over the future of Syria. Jordan is influential behind the scenes in the Middle East and the GID has a history of penetrating Sunni jihadist groups like the ones operating in Syria.

Endnote: Jordan's military (100,000 active duty personnel) is considered to be among the most professional in the region, and is seen as particularly well-trained, organized, and equipped. At least 3,000 US troops have operated in Jordan, which has a defense agreement with Washington that allows them "unimpeded access" to many Jordanian military facilities.


Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanian_Armed_Forces

https://gid.gov.jo/

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-troop-numbers-jordan-surge-record-high-amid-gaza-war

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Intelligence_Department_(Jordan)