Israel has been conducting an aggressive military campaign across Syria against Iran-backed militia groups, an effort that has been encouraged by the White House but aroused the concern of many U.S. military officials. While the White House has applauded Israel’s assertiveness against Iran inside Syria, the military officials say they fear it could backfire if Iran’s belief that the U.S. is behind many of the strikes prompts Iran-backed groups to attack American troops in Syria or Iraq.
The Wall Street Journal reports in its article As Israel Targets Iran in Syria, U.S. Officials Warn of Reprisals that Israel has struck about 200 targets in Syria over the past 18 months, Israeli officials disclosed recently, both to block weapons shipments from Iran to Lebanese group Hezbollah and to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence inside Syria. The targets included shipments of advanced weapons, military bases and infrastructure, the officials said.
The Pentagon said Israel is working on its own. “Israeli operations are independent,” said Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, in response to questions about the issue. “However, we support Israel’s inherent right to self-defense against imminent threats.”
Cmdr. Robertson said that if an action on the battlefield puts U.S. military personnel at risk, commanders “would take appropriate measures,” and that “U.S. forces are always prepared to defend themselves.”
The White House position has been that Israel has the right to defend itself and, further, that the U.S. welcomes Israel’s attempt to thwart Iran’s effort to create an “arc of control” leading from Iran west through Iraq, Syria and, ultimately, Lebanon.
“Iran and Hezbollah cannot be allowed to build an arsenal of weapons on Israel’s border that threatens the region,” a White House spokeswoman said in a statement.
John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, said during a visit to Israel in August that Israel’s role has been an effective one.
“Every time Iran has brought missiles or other threatening weapons into Syria, Israel has struck those targets,” he said.
At the Pentagon, however, U.S. military officials have expressed greater alarm. Their concern is that Iran believes the Israeli strikes stem from American intelligence fed to the Israelis specifically so they will launch the attacks.
If convinced of U.S. involvement, Iran could orchestrate reprisal attacks against American forces, particularly in Iraq, these officials said, where there are more than 5,000 U.S. troops stationed in the fight against Islamic State.
Iran has blamed the U.S. for Israel’s strikes; Iranian officials didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article.
Recent attacks by Shiite groups against the U.S. in Iraq reinforced the officials’ concerns. The State Department evacuated the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Basra in September after attacks the U.S. blamed on Iran-backed militias.
Iraqi officials said the U.S. evacuation was an overreaction, but U.S. military officials worry the attacks could be precursors to others on U.S. service members stationed in Iraq. No attacks from such groups against U.S. forces in Iraq have been reported, military officials said.
“This is a grave concern,” said Nicholas Heras of the Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington. He said prospects of Iranian reprisals are higher in Syria, where specialized U.S. units are helping local forces extinguish remaining Islamic State fighters.
While the U.S. can lean more heavily on the Iraq government to prevent outside interference with American forces there, the U.S. has less influence in Syria, where there is no central government with which the U.S. is allied.
The U.S. has telegraphed its concern to Israel and to the Shiite government of Iraq, which could influence some groups there, U.S. military officials said, while declining to specify what form the communication took. Israeli officials declined to respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. military officials acknowledged that their concerns are unlikely to take precedent over the close political relationship between the White House and Israel.
President Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have forged personal ties that both men have touted. Mr. Trump has been largely supportive of Israel’s foreign policy, and pulled the U.S. out of an international accord with Iran that Mr. Netanyahu had spent years lobbying against.
Mr. Netanyahu vowed during his United Nations General Assembly speech in September to continue action against Iran-backed forces “whenever and wherever we must.” Hezbollah continues to recruit fighters in Syria to deepen its presence there, near Israel’s border, according to activists and former rebel commanders.
