Report: Israel Concerned About Syrian Chemical Weapons Falling into Rebel Hands

Israel is reportedly worried that Syria rebels may seize chemical weapons stockpiles or production facilities used by Bashar a-Assad’s regime as the militias continue their surprising advance against the government’s own forces.

Syrian rebels have made unexpected advances in recent days, taking the city of Aleppo — the country’s second-biggest — and seizing the regime’s weapons, including Russian aircraft and air defense systems, and Iranian-made drones.

Israel has said that it has no interest in either side of the fight, which has raged since the Arab Spring of 2011. However, the Times of Israel, citing Ha’aretz, reports that Israel is concerned about the fate of Syria’s chemical weapons facilities:

The Israeli military fears that amid the Syrian rebel assault and their taking over of military sites belonging to the Assad regime in the country, chemical weapons could fall into the wrong hands, Haaretz reports.

The report says that the main concern is that rebels or Iran-backed militias could reach weapons in Syria that pose a significant threat to Israel, such as missiles or chemical weapons.

If such weapons fall into the hands of the rebels or Iranian militias, Israel would have to act in a way that “may affect Syria and the entire Middle East,” according to Haaretz.

Syria was supposed to have disposed of its chemical weapons in a deal brokered by the Obama administration, after a gaffe by then-Secretary of State John Kerry. Under the deal, Russia was to have supervised the removal and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. In reality, Syria retained its deadly arsenal — and Russia obtained tacit U.S. approval to return to the Middle East as a major player on the side of America’s enemies.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.