While some Israeli Druse have called on Israel to aid their Syrian brethren, the Syrian Druse are not keen on getting assistance from Israel, defense minister says.
...Ya’alon, in a briefing with diplomatic reporters, said that contrary to rumors that have circulated among Israel’s Druse, causing a great deal of agitation that led to the “lynching” last week of a Syrian rebel being transferred via ambulance to Israel, the Syrian Druse community was not currently threatened.
That murder, Ya’alon said, has led to calls for vengeance in Syria against the Druse community there.
While some Israeli Druse have called on Jerusalem to aid their Syrian brethren who are fighting the Assad regime, the Syrian Druse are not keen on getting that assistance, he added, as being seen as receiving support from Israel does not serve their interests.
Israel’s policy regarding Syria was to remain outside of the conflict there, but to make sure that Israel’s “red lines” were not crossed, the defense minister said. Among those red lines were the transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah and the infringement of Israeli sovereignty.
Ya’alon was careful not to predict the future of Syria, or how long Assad would hold on to control of at least some of the country, saying that it has essentially been broken into a number of different “cantons.”
He said that it was likely that the bloodletting there would continue, and that there was no likelihood of a decisive victory by one side or the other any time in the foreseeable future.
Another Israeli defense official said that while Israel has not refused medical treatment to any Syrian approaching its lines, “later, when it became clear that they were rebels, we made sure that they understood we expected our conditions to be kept.”
The official said he knew of no cases of Israel helping members of Nusra Front, an al-Qaida offshoot in Syria, which has beset the Druse. Rather, the official said, Israel has engaged mainly with non-jihadist rebels like the Free Syrian Army.
Telling apart jihadists from other armed factions “can be difficult,” he said...
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-giving-aid-to-some-Syrian-rebel-groups-on-condition-that-they-dont-harm-Druse-407484