IDF chief: Islamic State can’t be defeated by airstrikes alone
Eisenkot says Assad-backed forces are unlikely to win war, have sustained heavy losses; only Russia-US cooperation can end fighting
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot cast doubt on the idea that the Islamic State could be defeated by airstrikes alone and assessed that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad — including his foreign supporters — have nearly no chance of winning the civil war, according to a Thursday report.
US President Barack Obama earlier this week indicated there would be no shift in strategy and offered no new policy prescriptions for defeating the Islamic State, underscoring both his confidence in his current approach and the lack of easy options for countering the extremist group. On Saturday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon urged the US to take a more active role in the region.
According to a report in Haaretz Thursday, the IDF chief said in a closed meeting this week that the US-led coalition in Syria and Iraq was unlikely to defeat the Islamic State without boots on the ground. He said a diplomatic resolution and an end to the fighting would depend on cooperation between Russia and the United States, but said the process could take several years.
Eisenkot also said that Assad, who presently only controls some 10-15 percent of Syrian territory, has little chance of winning the war. Assad’s supporters, namely Iran, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group, and Russia, are reluctant to deploy enough ground forces to make any significant gains, he said. Moreover, Hezbollah has sustained heavy losses since it entered the civil war, with more than 1,300 killed (of some 30,000 fighters overall), and over 5,000 injured. Iran, which sent some 2,000 fighters, also lost a significant number of soldiers in the fighting, the report said.
Eisenkot reportedly maintained that a victory for the Islamic State in the war poses a slightly worse scenario for Israel than the alternative of an Assad win. While Assad is backed by Israel’s arch-foe Iran, Israel has experience combating the threat of the Shiite axis, while the unpredictable Islamic State poses a far greater challenge, he said.
The IDF chief of staff was also optimistic that the Egyptian army would successfully defeat the Sinai branch of the Islamic State, which it is estimated only has between 700-800 jihadists in its ranks.
The IS affiliate in the northern Sinai Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger jet in November, killing all 224 passengers on board. It has also carried out numerous deadly attacks on Egyptian soldiers in the restive peninsula.
Agencies contributed to this report.