Why is the Islamic State not fighting Israel? Why ISIS doesn't attack Israel

In mid-March, the weekly official newspaper of the Islamic State, the Al-Naba newspaper, published a lengthy article explaining from the point of view of Islamic law (Sharia) why the organization does not start a war with Israel.

The essence of the article is that the destruction of the Jewish state does not take precedence over “jihad against infidels” elsewhere. Moreover, the war against “godless governments” within the Muslim world is much more important. And only the liberation of Islamic shrines - Mecca and Medina - from the power of the Saudi dynasty is the only priority direction in the struggle of the faithful.

It is characteristic that Jerusalem as the third most important shrine of Islam is not mentioned at all, since this thesis, which arose relatively recently and solely to justify rejection of the creation of an independent Jewish state, has absolutely no significance outside the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

By the way, Jerusalem itself in the article is called nothing less than “Bayt al-Maqdis”, which is close Arabic in Hebrew it sounds like "Beit HaMikdash", and means "house of the Temple". This is what the Jews call their temple, which stood on the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) in Jerusalem. In other words, the name Jerusalem, accepted in Islamic discourse, emphasizes the city’s connection precisely with the Jewish tradition, in the process refuting the claims spread by Arab radicals that no Jewish temple ever existed in Jerusalem.

Threats against Israel, again accompanied by an explanation that the time for war against the Jews had not yet come, was published in an Al-Naba editorial in June.

The Islamic State regularly has to explain its reluctance to confront Israel, brushing aside criticism from those who question why the self-proclaimed caliphate has been slow to support Palestinian Muslims.

So, at the end of 2014, after the end of the Israeli military operation"Indestructible Rock" against the Islamic terrorists who control the Gaza Strip, the spokesman for the Islamic State, justifying the organization's inaction in not coming to the aid of Hamas, confirmed that the destruction of Israel is certainly part of jihad. “At the same time,” he said, “ISIS is acting according to plan, and there is whole line stages that must be passed before starting a confrontation with the Jewish state."

However, despite appeals to Sharia and the need to adhere to a pre-developed plan, it seems that the explanation for the reluctance to confront Israel is much more prosaic.

Night exercises of the Rimon special forces in the Jordan Valley on March 10, 2016. Press service of the Israel Defense Forces. As former member of the German parliament, journalist and writer Jorgen Todenhofer said about a year ago, having visited territories controlled by the Islamic State and spending ten days in communicating with militants and their leaders: “The only country that ISIS fears is Israel.”

“They explained to me,” he continued, “that the Israeli army is too strong for them.” According to the journalist, the militants admitted that they were not afraid of either the British or the Americans, and the Israelis were the only ones they believed had enough skill and experience to fight the war against their guerrilla tactics. That is why, as Todenhofer said, at the first stage, ISIS intend to capture the entire Middle East region, with the exception of Israel alone.

Apparently, this is exactly what the real reason ISIS's stubborn reluctance to engage with the Israelis.

The Islamic State, which now controls a significant part of the territories that previously belonged to Iraq and Syria, arose in a power vacuum, as well as due to the reluctance of neighboring states to prevent the expansion of fanatics.

In Iraq and Syria, the movement found many supporters among Sunni clans who sought to get rid of the power of minorities - the Shiites of Southern Iraq and the Alawites of Western Syria, respectively. Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, at least at first, viewed ISIS as a weapon in the fight against their enemy, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad, in turn, managed to negotiate with ISIS to share influence, focusing on the war with other Sunni rebels. While Iran saw the destruction of borders and chaos sown by the militants of the Islamic State as a convenient stage for itself, preceding the beginning of the Iranian “liberation expansion” of the devastated territories. Even now the actions Russian troops largely aimed at opposition groups threatening the coastal enclave held by Assad's government forces.

In a word, in the growing hurricane of Sunni-Shiite confrontation in the Middle East, the Islamic State, with the exception of the Kurds who are desperately fighting despite the shortage of weapons, did not find a single serious opponent who was able, or rather, willing to fight back.

And so it turned out that the mobile Caliphate horde, rapidly moving in a kind of carts - Toyota pickup trucks with heavy-caliber Russian DShK machine guns (affectionately nicknamed in the Soviet army"darlings"), managed to capture colossal spaces in a matter of months. These mobile units, easily hidden in a vast area stretching from Western Iraq to Eastern Syria, it is almost impossible to win with airstrikes alone, without ground operations.

At the same time, the group has virtually no chance in a frontal clash with a disciplined, trained and well-armed army. Therefore, if they attempt to cross the Israeli border, Islamic fanatics will be stopped by the forces of one helicopter flight or tank squad.

However, Israel does not neglect the threat posed by ISIS, realizing that the danger lies not in the unlikely frontal breakthrough of extremists across the border, but in the much more possible infiltration of small groups of saboteurs attacking military and civilian targets.

It is no coincidence that the 9th annual conference of the Israel Institute for the Study national security, held in January, was largely devoted to the threats posed by ISIS and scenarios for possible counteraction to them.

Even earlier, structural changes began in the Israeli army. As, following the collapse of Syria and Iraq, little remained of their armies, and Egypt became firmly stuck in civil war, the strategic danger of a sudden breakthrough by large enemy formations has essentially disappeared. At least in the near future, the Jewish state will be able to do without concentrating on its borders the armored forces necessary to repel a massive tank attack.

But the tactical threats emanating from small, but fanatical and unrestrained by any norms, terrorist gangs that grew up on the ruins of the Arab statehood have increased sharply. The Islamic State has become an ideological franchise. Many groups across the region pledge allegiance to ISIS leader Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, receiving in return financial support and corresponding reputation.

Brigade fighters special purpose"Commando". February 2016. Press service of the Israel Defense ForcesThat is why at the beginning of the year, to counter terrorists both inside and outside Israel, a new special forces brigade “Commando” was formed in the Israel Defense Forces, which included four infantry special forces (“Maglan” , "Duvdevan", "Egoz" and "Rimon"), which had previously operated as part of various military units. At the same time, Israeli reconnaissance UAVs are increasingly providing Jordan and Egypt with information about terrorists.

For Israel, it was now not the northern, but the southern border that was more dangerous. While on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, ISIS-affiliated units of the Yarmouk Martyrs' Brigades are waging a relentless war against their rivals, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra militants, unable to be distracted by the Israelis in the north In the Sinai Peninsula, the Vilayat Sinai group, which joined the Islamic State at the end of 2014, has become a real threat.

Support for ISIS is steadily growing in the Palestinian Authority, whose residents are disillusioned with both the rule of Fatah in Judea and Samaria and Hamas in Gaza, as well as among Israeli Arabs. In early January, Nashat Milhem, a resident of the Arab city of Arar located near Haifa, inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State, carried out a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, killing three Israelis. Even earlier, security forces uncovered a cell of ISIS supporters among the Bedouins of the Negev.

“ISIS is already here, it’s no secret,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin admitted in January, “and I mean not only the borders, but also the situation within them,” he emphasized.

According to Israeli intelligence estimates, about fifty Arab citizens of the country are fighting on the side of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. And although, as a representative of the Israeli security service noted in an interview with the British publication The Economist, “there are far more Swedish citizens in the ranks of ISIS than there are Israelis,” the trend of a growing threat is obvious.

The Islamic State, or more precisely, its ideology, is taking deeper roots in the Middle East. This means that the inevitability of a collision between Israel and its carriers is a matter of time, although probably not the nearest one.

Ehud Yaari: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant does not attack Israel

the site presents analytical material from the famous Israeli columnist for Channel 2, Arabist, Ehud Yaari:

“Why doesn’t ISIS attack Israel? Members of the deadly terrorist organization, which has claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks in Brussels that killed more than 30 people, explain why Israel is not the organization's priority target for terrorist attacks, but prefers to strike Europe, Arab and Muslim countries .

Based on the ideological guidelines guiding the organization's members, there is no basis for the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the anti-Semitic document circulated in the last century that asserted that Jews rule the world. According to ISIS, anyone who believes this is a fool because Jews do not rule the world.

The organization also believes that Jews are no more “infidels” and no worse than other infidels - Shiites, for example. They believe that this moment it is more important to concentrate on the fight against Arab regimes. representing a line of defense for Israel, and not in direct combat with Israel.

ISIS members believe. what Israel is religious problem, but not a target for immediate attacks, since based on Sharia it is forbidden to concentrate on fighting only with him, since we are talking about action. directed against religion. This is the reason that from the point of view of ISIS, other regional terrorist organizations. people like Hamas and Hezbollah are wrong. which also confirms that in the eyes of ISIS, the “Palestinian problem” is not the central problem of Muslims.

A convincing confirmation of the active actions of ISIS, not directed against Israel, is the war in Syria: in the southern part of the Golan Heights, where, on the Syrian side, members of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, an ISIS branch in Syria, are conducting active offensive operations only against groups of Syrian “rebels”. They direct their fire east (deep into Syria) rather than west (towards Israel).

I think this is only part of the reason why the Islamic State does not turn its bloody gaze towards the Israeli borders, only its tactical and ideological component. There is also a strategic, military component, as a result of which ISIS not only does not attack Israeli territory, but does not even try to destabilize the Syrian-Israeli border.

Outlined in red is the territory controlled by ISIS at the southern tip of the Golan Heights, where the borders of Syria, Israel and Jordan meet.

Any action of the organization against Israel will invariably lead to suicidal consequences for the Islamic State, maybe not on all fronts, but in the southern Syrian part it will undoubtedly play into the hands of both the pro-Asod authorities and, paradoxically, all groups of the Syrian opposition, with difficulty holding back the onslaught of ISIS, both in this direction and in the Jordanian direction, which could simply destroy all their plans in the region.

Attacking a state that is the largest home military air base, located in a dominant position, possessing comprehensive intelligence information, whose pilots thoroughly know every fold of the terrain in no less than a thousand-kilometer zone of habitual and practiced flights, can lead to the total destruction of everything ISIS's southern Syrian front. No Russian “Khmeimim” is able to do this. The Israeli Air Force can, and very quickly and efficiently.

And in my opinion, it is this reason, and not the religious-ideological component, that is prevalent. That is, the main reason is military, tactical-strategic, and not anything else. ISIS just wants to live.

IN last days The Syrian army is preparing to liberate southwest Syria - the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. There is a redeployment of combat units, formations and equipment. At the same time, the Syrian government a few days ago addressed all militant groups in these provinces that control certain areas of Syrian territory with a proposal for reconciliation or evacuation to the province of Idlib.

Several militant groups operate in the Syrian provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. In the very corner of Syrian territory, at the junction of the borders of Israel and Jordan, there is a group called the Yarmouk Martyrs’ Brigades, which several years ago came under the banner of ISIS (an organization banned in Russia). Being virtually completely surrounded, this group, as well as other groups of bandits, have been fighting each other and the Syrian army for many years. This fact allows us to make the assumption that they receive support from the territories of neighboring states - Israel and Jordan.

According to media reports, it is known that anti-Syrian bandits and murderers are being treated in Israel. Instead of extraditing them, placing them in displacement camps and handing them over to the Syrian government for a fair trial, as required by international conventions, Israel treats these bandits and returns them to duty. Several tens of millions of shekels have already been spent on these purposes.

A field hospital has been set up in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights to provide emergency assistance, the seriously wounded bandits are then sent to Israeli hospitals for treatment. Israeli special forces (this is documented) enter Syrian territory and deliver wounded bandits from there.

There are documented facts of Syrian bandits being in possession of Israeli food and communication systems. Israeli officers - instructors and liaison officers - have been spotted in some gangs. There are numerous cases of Israeli artillery providing fire support for the fighting of Syrian bandits against Syrian army.

Israel and Jordan have invested enormous amounts of money and resources into militants of all shapes and colors fighting in southwest Syria. Israel - medicine, communications, training officers, supplies. Jordan - the same thing, plus weapons and ammunition. If the Syrian army advances in this region of Syria and liberates Syrian territory from the bandits, all efforts of Israel and Jordan to support the Syrian bandits will be in vain.

These countries will not write off losses so easily. Jordan did all this with Saudi money, Israel with its own. It is possible that as soon as they begin fighting in southwest Syria, the state of Israel will resume its aggressive actions - both artillery and air attacks. And this factor must be taken into account by Russia and Syria when planning operations to liberate southwest Syria. Also, if certain Iranian units or units of the Lebanese Hezbollah are involved in southwest Syria, this could also cause unjustified aggression from Israel.

The State of Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic are legally at war. The leaders of the state of Israel have repeatedly carried out rocket attacks and other acts of aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic under the pretext of countering Iran's actions in Syria.

The Syrian Arab Republic has the right to invite and station military units of any state on its territory, and, roughly speaking, no wishes of the leaders of the state of Israel should be taken into account in any way. In other words, both Lebanese Hezbollah and Fatimiyoun have the right to take part in hostilities in southwestern Syria and subsequently be stationed there on a permanent basis. Iran, with the consent of Syria, can deploy any of its units, including air defense and missile systems, anywhere in Syria, including in close proximity to the borders of the state of Israel.

Someone should point out to the leaders of the state of Israel that Syria and Iran have the right to independently decide where Iranian units can and cannot be located on the territory of sovereign Syria. Moreover, the deployment of Iranian missile systems on Syrian territory in close proximity to the borders of Israel is the closest road to ending the Israeli occupation of Syrian and Palestinian territories, to the creation of an independent Palestinian state and to the establishment of universal peace in the Middle East.

ISIS*- an organization whose activities are prohibited in Russia

Mikhail Osherov

In recent days, the Syrian army has been preparing to liberate southwestern Syria - the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. There is a redeployment of combat units, formations and equipment. At the same time, a few days ago, the Syrian government addressed all militant groups in these provinces that control certain areas of Syrian territory with a proposal for reconciliation or evacuation to the province of Idlib.

Several militant groups operate in the Syrian provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. In the very corner of Syrian territory, at the junction of the borders of Israel and Jordan, there is a group called the Yarmouk Martyrs’ Brigades, which several years ago came under the banner of ISIS (an organization banned in Russia). Being virtually completely surrounded, this group, as well as other groups of bandits, have been fighting each other and the Syrian army for many years. This fact allows us to make the assumption that they receive support from the territories of neighboring states - Israel and Jordan.

According to media reports, it is known that anti-Syrian bandits and murderers are being treated in Israel. Instead of extraditing them, placing them in displacement camps and handing them over to the Syrian government for a fair trial, as required by international conventions, Israel treats these bandits and returns them to duty. Several tens of millions of shekels have already been spent on these purposes.

A field hospital has been set up in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights to provide emergency assistance; seriously wounded bandits are then sent to Israeli hospitals for treatment. Israeli special forces (this is documented) enter Syrian territory and deliver wounded bandits from there.

There are documented facts of Syrian bandits being in possession of Israeli food and communication systems. Israeli officers - instructors and liaison officers - have been spotted in some gangs. There are numerous cases of Israeli artillery providing fire support for the fighting of Syrian bandits against the Syrian army.

Israel and Jordan have invested enormous amounts of money and resources into militants of all shapes and colors fighting in southwest Syria. Israel - medicine, communications, training officers, supplies. Jordan - the same thing, plus weapons and ammunition. If the Syrian army advances in this region of Syria and liberates Syrian territory from the bandits, all efforts of Israel and Jordan to support the Syrian bandits will be in vain.

These countries will not write off losses so easily. Jordan did all this with Saudi money, Israel with its own. It is possible that as soon as hostilities begin in southwest Syria, the state of Israel will resume its aggressive actions - both artillery and air attacks. And this factor must be taken into account by Russia and Syria when planning operations to liberate southwest Syria. Also, if certain Iranian units or units of the Lebanese Hezbollah are involved in southwestern Syria, this could also cause unjustified aggression on the part of Israel.

The State of Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic are legally at war. The leaders of the state of Israel have repeatedly carried out rocket attacks and other acts of aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic under the pretext of countering Iran's actions in Syria.

The Syrian Arab Republic has the right to invite and station military units of any state on its territory, and, roughly speaking, no wishes of the leaders of the state of Israel should be taken into account in any way. In other words, both Lebanese Hezbollah and Fatimiyoun have the right to take part in hostilities in southwestern Syria and subsequently be stationed there on a permanent basis. Iran, with the consent of Syria, can deploy any of its units, including air defense and missile systems, anywhere in Syria, including in close proximity to the borders of the state of Israel.

Someone should point out to the leaders of the state of Israel that Syria and Iran have the right to independently decide where Iranian units can and cannot be located on the territory of sovereign Syria. Moreover, the deployment of Iranian missile systems on Syrian territory in close proximity to the borders of Israel is the closest road to ending the Israeli occupation of Syrian and Palestinian territories, to the creation of an independent Palestinian state and to the establishment of universal peace in the Middle East.

Mikhail Osherov