Former Israeli Navy Commander: It's America's Job to be Global Cop

Israel's security interests should take precedence over "the urge to intervene" in a military response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria — and America should look elsewhere for help, the former commander of the Israeli Navy said Saturday.

In an opinion piece posted on Ynetnews.com, Eliezer Marom said it's America's job to be a global cop.

"The US, as the leader of the free world, preaches to the world’s countries about their conduct, preserves American interests while obligating a country to apologize to another, promotes American interests, and more," Marom wrote.

"But alongside these rights that come with being a superpower, the U.S. is obligated to lead the free world in accordance with the guidelines of international law and serve as the world’s 'police officer.'"

Marom said Israel's role is to watch America's back.

"Despite the desire to respond and put [President Bashar] Assad in his place in the wake of the chemical attack launched by his army, Israel must continue its excellent cooperation with the U.S. military and offer intelligence assistance as needed while continuing to monitor the developments and remaining alert, so that we will be able to operate only if chemical weapons make their way from Syria to Hezbollah."

It was the Israeli military intelligence that provided most of the evidence apparently proving the Assad regime's deployment of chemical weapons — the legal grounds essential to justify any military action, The Guardian has reported, citing a report in the German magazine Focus.

The 8200 unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, which specializes in electronic surveillance, intercepted a conversation between Syrian officials regarding the use of chemical weapons, a former Mossad official told Focus, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

Israel has invested in intelligence assets in Syria for decades, according to an unnamed senior governor official cited by the Guardian.

"We have an historic intelligence effort in the field, for obvious reasons," the official told the publication.

Moram said the "shocking images" of children stricken in the chemical attack "evoke in the heart of every Jew the memory of the Holocaust and the horrors our nation suffered just 70 years ago."

"The desire to intervene in Syria to stop the horror is a worthy human reaction that originates from the heart of every civil person, and certainly from the heart of every Jew," he said.

He said no response from the international community, "headed by the U.S." would be perceived as giving such attacks a green light.

But he said the U.S. needs to look elsewhere for help.

". . . the UN’s paralysis should not discourage the Americans, who in a few years will no longer be dependent on oil from the Middle East," he said. "The U.S. can recruit the European bloc, Turkey, and maybe a number of Arab countries who are vehemently opposed to Iran and Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria — and act against Assad’s cruelty."

"It appears that the Americans, with the cooperation of European countries, are capable of launching the first phase of the operation in a relatively short period of time and begin attacking government assets with cruise missiles fired from warships — thus preventing further use of these horrific weapons," he added.