Iran's
Violent Influence Threatens Israel and its Arab Neighbors
by Yaakov Lappin
Special to IPT News
January 29, 2019
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Palestinian Islamic
Jihad leaders meet last month with Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei
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Wherever violence and aggression flare up around Israel's borders, Iran
or one of its proxies can be found. Iran's persistent subversion and
promotion of terrorism is not only a threat to Israel, but also to its Arab
Sunni neighbors, who stand in the way of Tehran's radical designs for the
Middle East.
This pattern was on display in recent days. On Jan. 21, the Israeli Air
Force destroyed a number of targets in Syria belonging to the
Quds Force, the elite Iranian expeditionary force, led by General Qassem
Soleimani.
The Quds Force has been trying to build an Iranian-run terrorist army in
Syria, and missile bases, to threaten Israel. But Israel has been able to
thwart many of these efforts.
In an attempt to change the "rules of the game," and deter
Israel from continuing to defend itself, a Quds Force cell fired a missile at Israel's Golan Heights region,
threatening civilian lives, before Israeli air defenses shot down the
threat.
Iran emerged from this round of fighting fairly poorly, losing valuable assets, including weapons storage
facilities that it built at Damascus's International Airport.
Yet just a few days later, Iran's chief proxy in the Gaza Strip,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), began gun attacks on the Israel-Gaza
border, threatening to plunge the Strip into a new conflict. A new Gaza war
would endanger the security of Gazan and Israeli civilians alike.
"In recent weeks, we have monitored increasing attempts by the
Islamic Jihad movement to destabilize the security situation in the Gaza
Strip," an Israel Defense Forces statement said.
When a PIJ sniper fired a shot at an IDF officer, striking his helmet,
Israel responded with tank fire on Hamas outposts, killing a Hamas
operative. Israel's message to Hamas was simple: Get PIJ under control.
But it isn't just Israel that delivered a warning to Hamas, itself a
radical Islamist regime that has partnered up with Iran. According to a
recent report that appeared in the Israel Hayom Hebrew daily newspaper,
Egypt delivered the very same message to Gaza's rulers.
"Cairo has made it clear that [Hamas political chief Ismail]
Haniyeh must decide whether Hamas takes its orders from Tehran or continues
to implement the understandings for calm formulated by the head of Egyptian
intelligence Abbas Kamel," the report, quoting an Egyptian
intelligence official, said.
Egypt's message represents a larger struggle for influence in Gaza. It
is a struggle being waged between radical Shi'ite Iran and its terror
proxies, and moderate Sunni Egypt. Iran is seeking to set Gaza alight with
conflict, while Egypt is seeking to douse the flames, and counter-balance
Iran's destabilization efforts. In this struggle, Israel and Egypt's
interests align – both are threatened by Iran's activities.
Hamas, for its part, cannot casually ignore Egypt's demands, since the
Arab regional power is right on its doorstep, and controls the Strip's sole
crossing to the outside world.
After sealing it shut during the latest border violence, Egypt will reportedly open the Rafah Crossing with Gaza, giving
Gazans who wish to travel out of their repressive Hamas-run enclave an
outlet, and allowing the movement of goods. Such a move is good for Gaza's
economy, and takes the pressure off Hamas.
When open, Rafah is a carrot that Egypt can offer Hamas as a reward for
following Cairo's directives. When it is shut, it turns into a stick, or a
chokehold, reminding Hamas that Iran is geographically distant and that
Cairo's influence is far more immediate.
Still, all of these efforts represent short-term push back against Iran.
The Islamic Republic continues to wield a significant influence on Gaza
through its financial support of Hamas and PIJ, and the knowledge sharing
it conducts with them on weapons manufacturing and combat doctrines. These
have helped turn Hamas into a mass rocket and urban warfare base.
In Syria, Iran has not given up its takeover ambitions.
The situation was well described by a senior Israeli military source
last year, during a briefing to journalists.
"The risks are all around us. Whether it is instability in Syria,
Hizballah in Lebanon – also a forward Iranian division – or Hamas, which
gets its support from Iran. Iran is all over, offensively trying to operate
against Israel, and we have to weigh and assess the risks constantly as we
operate against this aggression."
The officer described a large-scale shadow war, saying, "We are
operating around the Middle East against the Iranian buildup up force. The
aim of our line of operations and our decisiveness is to deter and dissuade
and counter Iranian activities in the region. What we see is very dangerous
to regional stability."
Yaakov Lappin is a military and strategic affairs correspondent. He
also conducts research and analysis for defense think tanks, and is the
Israel correspondent for IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. His book, The
Virtual Caliphate, explores the online jihadist presence.
Related Topics: Yaakov
Lappin, Iran,
Gaza
Strip, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, Shi'ite
proxies, Qassem
Soleimani, Quds
Force, IDF,
Ismail
Haniyeh, Egypt,
Rafah
Crossing, Gaza
economy
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