Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 17 July 2025, www.thecommunists.net

1.           Israel’s military strikes against governmental forces and buildings in the south of Syria as well as in Damascus represent another chapter in the Zionist endless war of aggression against the oppressed peoples in the Middle East. Netanyahu’s claim that Israel would defend the rights of the Druze minority is completely ridiculous. Yes, there have been tensions between Arab Bedouin tribes and Druze. But the Syrian governmental forces intervened to end this conflict and concluded a local ceasefire which has been supported by most Druze leaders. According to the news agency Axios, even U.S. intelligence confirms that troops sent by the Syrian government did not carry out any massacres. Furthermore, the intervention of Syrian governmental forces was welcome by the large majority of Druze leaders and factions (e.g. Sheikh Yousef Jarbou, Hamoud al Hanawi, Men of Dignity). It is only the pro-Israeli Sheikh Hikmat al Hijri and his Suwayda Military Council (a group with ties to Assad-era generals) which opposes the ceasefire, and which asks the Zionist state to intervene.

2.           What are Israel’s real interests in attacking Syria? Since the victory of the Syrian Revolution on 8 December 2024, the Zionist state has pursued the goal to weaken the country and to push it towards cantonalisation or, if possible, fragmentation. The Israeli army has already occupied 460 square kilometers of Syrian territory and built nine outposts. With such a strategy, Israel hopes to remove Syria as an adversary and to create a region in the south of the country which it can influence and dominate (possibly via collaboration with the pro-Israeli minority among the Druze). The Zionist state has a similar project with the SDF in the north-east of Syria, but this is more difficult to achieve given the geographical distance and no direct route.

3.           Furthermore, the attack is part of Israel’s policy to “redraw the borders of the Middle East” and to impose its domination of the region. As part of this policy Netanyahu tries to obstruct the close relations of the new Syrian regime with Trump by presenting al-Sharaa as a terrorist so that Washington and other Western powers are obliged to rely only on Israel. Finally, there are also domestic factors as the Netanyahu government is in deep crisis as it just lost its parliamentary majority in the Knesset with the resignation of the Ultra-orthodox parties (in protest against a draft conscription law). Hence, Netanyahu must keep the forever war going in order to stay in power (and also to avoid being sentenced at his trial for corruption).

4.           Israel’s unprovoked attack on Syria shows once more that it is a terrorist settler state which is aggressive and expansionist by its very nature. Since its foundation in 1948, which rested on the Nakba (the expulsion of the native Palestinian population), it has waged numerous wars against its neighbouring countries (1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, 2008/09, 2012, 2014, 2021). Since the 7 October 2023, it has committed one of the worst genocides of modern history in Gaza, and attacked Lebanon, Iran and Yemen. In parallel, it has already expelled tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Westbank and aims to formally annex it.

5.           Let’s be clear: there can be no peace in the Middle East as long as the Zionist Terror state continues to exist. It must be destroyed and replaced by a free and red Palestine from the River to the Sea. Such a secular and democratic Palestinian state would enable all refugees to return to their homes. At the same time, it would guarantee equal cultural and religious rights for all citizens (including the Jewish minority). It should be a workers and fellahin republic as part of a socialist federation of the Middle East.

6.           Israel’s ongoing aggression against Syria also shows once more the objective contradiction between the Syrian Revolution and the interests of the Zionist state. It is true that the new government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa and his HTS is betraying the Syrian Revolution as it is working hard to build a capitalist state with stable relations with regional and imperialist powers. Al-Sharaa even shamefully tries to establish some kind of relations with Israel, even recognizing Israeli claims to the Golan Heights. However, his government is still weak, and it can not act as it wishes as it is under a lot of popular pressure. This is particularly true given the widespread hatred against the Zionist state amongst the masses. Hence, al-Sharaa has to manoeuvre carefully and send troops against pro-Israeli provocateurs in the south of the country.

7.           The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) unconditionally sides with the Syrian government forces in the military conflict with the pro-Israeli Druze faction. However, we lend no political support to the bourgeois government of al-Sharaa. It should be replaced by a workers and peasants government opening the road to a socialist transformation of the country. There must be no discrimination of any minority (like the Druze). Those who have committed sectarian abuses and killings must be punished. The Syrian nation with all its different religious and ethnic groups can and should be united on the basis of equality as well as the joint struggle against the expansionist settler state and the imperialist powers.

8.           We reiterate our support for the heroic Palestinian resistance in Gaza as well as for the military struggle of any other country in the Middle East against the Zionist monster. The only way forward is the revival of the Arab Revolution to bring down the corrupted dictatorships which aid Israel by obstructing any meaningful support for the Palestinian people. It is equally important that the global pro-Palestine solidarity movement overcomes the pacifist and petty-bourgeois leadership and moves forward towards effective solidarity actions like workers boycott of arms shipment to and any trade with Israel, consumer boycott, direct action against corporations and institutions collaborating with the Zionist state, etc. We call socialists who agree with such a program to join the RCIT in building a Revolutionary World Party!