{"id":181856,"date":"2019-01-09T11:09:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T11:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=181856"},"modified":"2019-01-13T07:23:37","modified_gmt":"2019-01-13T07:23:37","slug":"never-think-that-trump-is-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=181856","title":{"rendered":"Never Think That Trump Is President"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Golan at Stake, Netanyahu, Bolton Set Trump Straight on US Syria Withdrawal Plan <\/a><\/h1>\n

Whitney Webb \u2013 Mint Press Jan 7, 2019<\/h2>\n
\"Israeli<\/a>

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and US National Security Advisor John Bolton, speak to the media after their meeting in Jerusalem, Jan. 6, 2019. Oded Balilty | AP<\/p><\/div>\n

The state of Israel seems to share at least some of the responsibility for the latest shift of U.S. Syria policy \u2014 as National Security Adviser John Bolton announced<\/a><\/strong><\/span> on Sunday that President Donald Trump\u2019s call to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria would now be \u201ccoordinated\u201d with Israel, after meeting with top Israeli officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s main motivation in preventing a swift U.S. exit from Syria was also made explicit by Netanyahu, who openly stated<\/a> on Twitter that Israel\u2019s push to obtain sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights \u2013 which is internationally recognized as part of Syria \u2013 was the driving factor behind Israel\u2019s recent efforts to dramatically slow down Trump\u2019s plan for an \u201cimmediate\u201d withdrawal of U.S. troops currently occupying Syrian territory illegally.<\/span><\/p>\n

As MintPress<\/em> noted<\/a><\/strong><\/span> at the time of Trump\u2019s withdrawal announcement, Israel\u2019s influence<\/a><\/strong><\/span> on Trump\u2019s Middle East policy and Israel\u2019s push towards containing \u201cIranian influence\u201d in Syria would mean that Trump\u2019s plan to withdraw troops over the alleged defeat of ISIS would likely never materialize if it was opposed by Tel Aviv.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was apparently and not surprisingly the case as, soon after Trump\u2019s announcement that he planned to bring U.S. troops home from Syria last month, Israel\u2019s government announced that it would dramatically rev up its direct involvement in the Syrian conflict in the U.S.\u2019 absence. That involvement had so far been limited to hundreds of unilateral airstrikes on Syrian government and military targets over the course of the nearly eight-year-long war. Israel\u2019s threat of escalation revealed Israel\u2019s unwillingness to see foreign pressure on Damascus reduced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s military \u2014 currently headed by Netanyahu, who is also serving as Israel\u2019s defense minister \u2014 made good on this promise to increase its military involvement in Syria soon after, using civilian airplanes as cover<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>to launch airstrikes on Syria on Christmas Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Israel\u2019s reaction to Trump\u2019s announcement appears to have been much more extensive than its decision to increase its airstrikes targeting Syrian territory. After meeting with Netanyahu and the director of Israeli intelligence, Bolton noted on Twitter that the \u201cU.S. drawdown in Syria\u201d would now be \u201ccoordinated<\/a>\u201d with Israel. Also on Sunday, Bolton announced that the U.S. had no timetable for troop withdrawal from Syria and that the troop withdrawal was also conditional.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I met w\/ PM @netanyahu<\/a>, the Director of Mossad, & the Israeli Atomic Energy Commissioner. Discussions included our ongoing efforts to expand & enhance our historic partnership w\/ Israel, our mutual response to the threat from Iran, & the coordinated U.S. drawdown in Syria.<\/p>\n

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) January 7, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n