Conservative talk show host Michael Savage charges Israel is pushing the U.S. to conduct a military strike against Syria, hoping the action will "neutralize" the Assad regime's air force and leave behind only "ragtag rebel groups who have no real heavy weapons."
"Who’s behind this? Who’s pushing it? Well I suspect that it was Israel all along," the host of "The Savage Nation" told listeners Wednesday night.
"It’s Israel pushing the United States – and England and France and Italy and Germany — to strike [President Bashar] Assad. . . . So it’s Israel that wants Assad’s air force neutralized."
Savage noted a
Fox News report that the initial confirmation the Assad regime was responsible for a suspected chemical weapons attack Aug. 21 came from a tip from the Israeli intelligence service.
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, an unnamed ex-Mossad official told the German magazine Focus, the
Guardian in London reported. The content was then relayed to the U.S.
"What we know is true is that Israel is deeply involved in the war drum beating," said Savage, who said he considers himself "a friend of Israel."
"Assad's … not at war with Israel," he said, and Israel believes it has much less to fear from the regime if it’s without an air force.
Israel is "pulling [President] Obama’s strings," the talk show host maintained.
"If you can get America and France and Italy and Germany to act for you and they're foolish enough to risk a third world war, why not?" he asked. "Put your own interests ahead of the world, what do you care?"
"I'm sick of this slavish worship of Israel," he said. "No, it's America first and Israel's the tail, not the dog. We're the dog, they're the tail. And I'm sick and tired of America being yanked around like we're the tail and they're the dog."
Israel's support for a U.S. military rather than political solution was voiced by Syria’s foreign minister Walid Mouallem on Tuesday, according to the
Jerusalem Post.
According to the Post, Mouallem said is was clear "that Israel does not want this solution, but rather it wants the continuation of violence and terrorism."
On Thursday, it appeared the U.S. and the U.K. were delaying an immediate punitive military strike until U.N. teams in Syria report from Damascus.
Savage lashed into Obama, accusing him of caring only about "gay rights, immigration… granting amnesty to illegals so there's no America left."
"That’ll be his legacy, that's all," Savage said, adding Obama could care "less about the Middle East."
"So whoever put him in power wants their payback," he said.