Russia offered to have peacekeeper in the Golan after al-Nusra Front fighters kidnapped some UN peacekeepers. Israel is open to the idea of a Russian presences on the Golan.
MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) – Israel is ready to discuss the possible deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the disputed Golan Heights region between Syria and Israel, the Israeli ambassador to Russia said Tuesday.
“I think that this issue will be discussed and, if the sides manage to come to an agreement, this [a Russian peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights] is possible. Permission from the United Nations is required. And Israel is always open to solutions for such issues,” Ambassador Dorit Golender said.
The UN-monitored buffer zone in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was set up to separate Israeli and Syrian forces after the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Although it is de-jure on Syrian territory, it has been occupied and annexed by Israel since the war. Ownership of the strategically important Golan Heights remains one of the main points of contention between the two nations.
Al-Nusra would be stupid to go after Russian peacekeepers. They should ask their Hezbollah enemies what the Russians did to them in the 1980’s when they kidnapped some Russians.
Tags: Golan Heights, Syrian War, UN
