New Iranian-backed Group Targets Israel, Media M.I.A

An Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’ite militia, Al-Nujaba, has announced the formation of the “Golan Liberation Army” to target Israel. The group’s stated objectives have largely been ignored by the press.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a non-profit organization that translates Arab, Iranian and Russian media, Al-Nujaba’s spokesman Hashem Al-Mousawi, was interviewed by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency on March 8, 2017. Al-Mousawi said:

“This army has been trained and has detailed plans. If the Syria regime asks us to, we are ready to act to liberate the Golan [from Israel] along with our allies.”

Al-Nujaba’s spokesman called Iran “a powerful country” that was “the only country that helped us and sent us its military advisors.”

In the interview, Al-Mousawi also claimed that the United States and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He blamed Israel for “Iraq’s destruction.”

Al-Nujaba was established by Akram Al-Ka’bi, who had previously been with the Iraqi Shi’ite militia Asaeb Ahl Al-Haqq before moving to Syria. Al-Nujaba has participated in the Syrian civil war, defending the country’s embattled dictator Bashar Al-Assad. The group has fought in Aleppo Province, Damascus and Al-Raqqa. MEMRI’s report says that Al-Nujaba operates Iranian drones and is trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based terror group that is also, in large measure, an Iranian proxy.

Despite threatening the United States and its key regional allies, some Western press have failed to note the formation of the “Golan Liberation Army.”

A notable exception to the media’s ignoring the story is the Washington Post dispatch (Netanyahu urges Putin to block Iranian power corridor on Israel’s border, March 9, 2017) by reporters Ruth Eglash and David Filipov highlighted the threat facing the Jewish state by Iranian-backed militias. The Post noted the establishment of the Golan Liberation Army and that “Iran is also thought to have deployed missiles in Syria capable of reaching deep inside Israeli territory.”

Other major U.S. news media outlets, such as USA Today and The Baltimore Sun, failed to report on Al-Nujaba’s activities aimed at making war on the Jewish state.

With Bashar al-Assad having brutally maintained his grip on Syria, thanks in no small part to Russia and Iran, Tehran is likely to expect quite a bit in return. This is almost certain to include keeping its forces and proxies in position to attack Israel, a country that the Islamic Republic has sworn to destroy.