Hezbollah, Israel’s nasty new neighbor in the Golan

Tuesday’s attack on an IDF patrol in the Golan Heights, and the subsequent punitive strikes by Israel, constitute an important chapter in the history of the new Middle East. The developments signal not only the erosion of the 40-year quiet between Israel and Syria, but also a major change in the complex fabric of relations between Hezbollah and Damascus.

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Syria has become a burden to Hezbollah, not the other way around. When Bashar’s government began to falter, he requested that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah mobilize on behalf of the Syrian government, and Nasrallah initially refused. Only after the intervention of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who made it clear that Nasrallah had no other choice, did Hezbollah launch the most complicated mission in its history — saving President Bashar.

The operation meant military action in a foreign state’s territory, against Sunni Muslims, inevitably losing the support and popularity which Hezbollah had enjoyed across the Middle East. Still, the Lebanese Shiite group went through with it, sending thousands of its people to fight in someone else’s war. After losing hundreds of fighters, and having thousands injured, Hezbollah has now become al-Qaeda’s favorite target in the region.

One thing, at least, has worked to Hezbollah’s benefit: Assad is now completely dependent on the organization for survival.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-israels-nasty-new-neighbor-in-the-golan/