As ISIS has ripped through much of Syria and Iraq and caused terror attacks throughout the world an undercurrent of anti-semitic and anti-Israel sentiment projects the twisted belief that ISIS was somehow created by Israel to destabilize the region.
Here is the main points behind those who spread this false accusation:
First, Israel (along with the US) created ISIS to be a block to Iran in Eastern Syria. They quote the following leaked Defense Intelligence Agency document dated in 2012.
“there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime …”
Second, they point out that Israel is never attacked by ISIS
Third, that ISIS fights alongside the FSA East of the Golan against Syrian Regime forces.
Fourth, the Yinon Plan, written by journalist Oded Yinon in 1982, which outlines Israel’s foreign policy goals involving dismembering Iraq, Egypt, and Iraq.
Let’s tackle each point. The first point assumes that the Middle Eastern policy pursued by Barack Obama was in-line with Israel’s needs and goals. It clearly was not. The Syrian border was the calmest border Israel had and showed no signs of heating up. If anything, Israel has only lost with Syria’s disintegration as it has pushed Assad further into the hands of Iran and brought Iran closer to Israel’s border.
The second point is absurd as there was just a rocket attack by ISIS this week,there have been attacks on the Golan, and a border guard was killed almost two weeks ago by ISIS assailants.
The third point seems to have legs until we see that Israel has targeted ISIS militias near the Golan as it has the Syrian regime. Arguing that ISIS and the Free Syrian Army are the same thing does not hold up. Other than both ISIS and FSA outlining the Assad regime as it s enemy, they have no real overt working relationship. While it’s true many ISIS fighters have melted into the FSA as well as the two groups communicating with each other, this is more or less a product of both fighting the menacing Syrian regime.
The fourth point, citing the Yinon Plan has no merit as Israel has already made peace with Egypt and Jordan and shows no interest destabilizing either.
What we do know with certanty is that ISIS was a creation and amalgamation of former Sadaam loyalists and American armed Jihadists whose goals were aligned in taking over the Levant and Iraq. It is clear that Obama jumpstarted ISIS through transference of weapons to anti-Assaf Salafists.
Blaming Israel or reinventing a neo-Elders of Zion outlook on world events in order to make sense of a crumbling world does not help to wash away the facts in that Israel has far more to lose with a chaotic Middle East than it does with stable regional actors.