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Support has manifested in unexpected ways, including instances of Syrian expatriates defending Israel on social media against anti-Israel protesters.
By OHAD MERLIN JANUARY 18, 2025 12:00 Updated: JANUARY 18, 2025 12:07
DISPLACED SYRIAN children close to their tents on the Syrian-Turkish border, earlier this month.
(photo credit: FLASH90)
Lt.-Col. (res.) Eyal Dror, commander of Israel’s Operation Good Neighbor from 2016 to 2018, has witnessed firsthand how humanitarian aid can bridge gaps between sworn enemies.
Currently evacuated from his home in Kibbutz Dafna due to the ongoing conflict in the North, Dror shared with the Magazine his experiences leading one of Israel’s most ambitious humanitarian operations along the Syrian border.
The evacuation of his kibbutz, which began independently on Oct. 7, 2023, and was later formalized by a government decision on October 16, has given Dror a personal perspective on displacement – a condition all too familiar to those he once helped across the border.
Operation Good Neighbor wasn’t created in a vacuum.
“The initiative emerged after three years of treating wounded Syrians in Israeli hospitals – a period that saw over 3,000 Syrian civilians receive life-saving medical care,” explained Dror. “These weren’t just war casualties. We treated civilians who had been bombarded by Assad’s barrel bombs, women with pregnancy complications – anyone who needed urgent medical intervention.”
Dror stressed that what made the operation he oversaw particularly significant was that Syrians were the only neighboring population who had never had meaningful contact with Israelis.
“Unlike Lebanese, Egyptians, Jordanians, or Palestinians, Syrians had no firsthand experience with Israelis for over four decades,” Dror said. “This made them particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories and propaganda about Israel and the Jewish people.”
Four years into the civil war in Syria, Israeli authorities recognized an opportunity to expand humanitarian efforts in 2016. Dror explained that the strategy was twofold: addressing the pressing humanitarian crisis, while potentially creating a buffer against hostile forces.
“On the other side of the border, you had Hezbollah, ISIS, and al-Qaeda,” the operation’s commander noted. “Our thinking was that if we could establish good neighborly relations with uninvolved Syrian civilians, they might be less likely to allow these terror organizations to establish a foothold in their areas.”
THE OPERATION went far beyond medical care.
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“After careful assessment of local needs, we provided essential supplies – flour, oil, pasta, rice, heating fuel, and more,” Dror said. “The goal was to provide what they actually needed, not just what was easy to give.” This comprehensive approach included collaborating with various aid organizations, both Christian and Muslim, to effectively meet the local population’s needs.
When asked about the possibility of inadvertently helping hostile elements, Dror replied with sincerity: “We worked with local civilians and contacts and didn’t treat ISIS members, who weren’t really established in the area, anyway. We treated children accompanied by their mothers without asking questions. Could some have been related to militants? Possibly, but we had no way to verify, and that wasn’t our mission.”
He believes that the impact of Operation Good Neighbor continues to resonate. Maintaining contact with Syrians in exile, he has witnessed numerous instances of their support for Israel, particularly after the Oct. 7 massacre.
Dror recalled a recent event with Syrian peace activist Rawan Osman: “She told me that after Oct. 7, Syrians reached out to her asking how they could express support for Israel, citing our humanitarian work as their motivation.”
This support has manifested in unexpected ways, including instances of Syrian expatriates defending Israel on social media against anti-Israel protesters.
“In 2019, I lectured in the UK. I started speaking in one of the campuses, and after five minutes I showed a slide of a picture of an IDF soldier treating a Syrian citizen,” Dror recounted. “Suddenly, some of our pro-Palestine ‘friends’ sprang up and blocked me with a Palestinian flag. The event made it online, and the first friends who jumped to respond were actually Syrians who follow me on social media. They said, ‘Shame on them! What Eyal did for Muslims – you will never do!’”
Dror also highlighted the fact that physical reminders of Israel’s aid remain within Syria.
“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people in Syria who carry scars from bullets or shrapnel removed by Israeli doctors. That’s not something you can erase.” He added that countless others survived harsh winters thanks to Israeli-provided winter clothing and heating supplies.
Remaining realistic
Dror remains realistic about the limitations of humanitarian aid.
“I’m not naive,” he said. “Some people might still turn to Iranian money and act against us. But Operation Good Neighbor was just one tool in our arsenal for protecting Israeli citizens in the Golan Heights – and, in my view, an effective one.”
He noted that while not everyone treated by Israel became a pro-Israel advocate, the impact of the operation has endured even six years later, particularly among those whose lives were directly impacted by Israeli aid.
“Without going into details, even today we hear the people who remember us,” he stressed, “and I hope we will see the fruits of this in the near future. The impact remains and exists on the ground. Six years in the Middle East is not a long time; a child who was 11 years old and we implanted a hearing aid in his ears can still hear thanks to us – it is impossible to hide it.”
His impressions of the Syrians he worked with paint a picture of a population far removed from extremist ideologies. “Most were moderate people living in terrible poverty,” he said.
“These were farmers deeply connected to their land, concerned primarily with day-to-day survival rather than radical ideology.” Dror emphasized that while there were more extremist elements deeper inside Syria in the larger cities, the border regions where they operated were predominantly populated by traditional farming communities.
“I didn’t get to talk to them about the ideology,” Dror continued. “I worked with professionals such as doctors, and we also had contacts with more ordinary people, bakers, and others. At the time when ISIS was thriving, some of the people there lived under their Sharia rule. But they lived in rural areas, and I didn’t encounter people with a super-extreme ideology.”
DROR MENTIONED that though there were factions within the area representing quasi-Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ideologies that operated in the field, he never had contact with them.
“My impression is that these were very simple people, living in unimaginable poverty. It was a traditionally agricultural area, where the Syrian regime had never invested a penny. The Israeli side of the border was more prosperous, although there really is no reason because the topography is the same. They live their lives, and that’s it. They are very connected to the land, and that’s what you need to remember.”
During his recent experience with displacement from Kibbutz Dafna, Dror has observed parallels between different forms of civilian suffering in the region. Despite the kibbutz being repeatedly hit and its fields damaged, he has noticed signs of resilience.
“Recently, with the ceasefire, we’re seeing more movement of residents. More lights are being turned on in homes. It might seem trivial, but it’s deeply moving. The most beautiful kibbutz in Israel had become a ghost town, and now we’re slowly hearing children playing again in the streets.”
Between challenges and silver linings
One of Dror’s current concerns is the media narrative surrounding Israeli activities in the Syrian Golan Heights. He expressed worry about outlets like Qatar’s Al-Jazeera and Hezbollah-loyalist Al-Mayadeen portraying Israel’s presence in the buffer zone in Syria as an “occupation.”
“There’s a huge difference between occupation and operating in a buffer zone established by international agreement,” he emphasized. “This narrative needs to be properly contextualized.” He stressed the importance of communicating that Israel’s presence in the buffer zone is a result of the current situation, where the original agreement’s counterpart is no longer effectively in control.
Dror also voiced concern about the international community’s rapid acceptance of HTS leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa. “The quick removal of the bounty on his head shows a profound misunderstanding of who this person is,” he warned. “Just because he wears a suit and tie now doesn’t mean his organization isn’t still fundamentally Islamist.”
He pointed to recent violent actions of loyalist fighters of the Sunni Islamist political and paramilitary group against the Alawite minority as evidence that the organization’s fundamental nature hasn’t changed.
But despite the current challenges, Dror also remembers shards of hope from his journey. Among countless meaningful moments, one stands out in his memory. While playing soccer with Syrian children at Ziv Hospital, a young boy’s comment captured the essence of the operation’s impact.
“I asked if he was afraid of me, an armed officer who was playing soccer with him while wearing the IDF uniform,” Dror recalled. “He replied, ‘Why would I be afraid? You’re an Israeli officer, not a Syrian one.’” That eight-year-old boy is now 16, and Dror believes he’ll forever remember the Israeli officer who saved his life and played soccer with him.
As Syria’s future remains uncertain, Dror sees potential opportunities for regional transformation. However, he emphasizes the importance of carefully choosing partners and understanding the complex reality of the region. The legacy of Operation Good Neighbor, its former commander believes, stands as a testament to the power of humanitarian aid in breaking down barriers and challenging long-held prejudices, even in the most challenging circumstances.
As he continues his military reserve service while displaced from his home, Dror remains committed to the principles that guided the operation: that humanitarian aid can serve both moral and strategic purposes, creating lasting impacts that transcend political boundaries.
Eyal Dror’s new book about Operation Good Neighbor, Embracing the Enemy, will be published in English in the coming weeks.
English (US) ·