Israel fears jihadi Golan Heights attack

Israel fears jihadis will use the Golan Heights to attack Israel now that Syria has withdrawn thousands of troops from the area, Israel's military chief said. Syrian rebels increasingly occupy parts of the Golan Heights that had been patrolled by Syrian troops because the troops were removed by the regime of President Bashar Assad so they could fight in battlefronts closer to Damascus, the capital, British newspaper The Guardian reported Sunday. Regime military officials "have moved some of their best battalions away from the Golan," a Western diplomat told the newspaper. "They have replaced some of them with poorer-quality battalions, which have involved reducing manpower. The moves are very significant" because rebel groups have moved in to fill the vacuum, the diplomat said. The rebels include Islamic extremists, including al-Qaida members, who seek to establish a new foothold in Syria. "We are seeing terror organizations gaining footholds increasingly in the territory," Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel's military chief, told the newspaper. "For now, they are fighting Assad. Guess what? We're next in line." The Golan Heights' eastern border was until recently thought to be occupied by four Syrian army divisions whose positions helped make the Golan the safest of Israel's four borders for more than four decades, The Guardian said.