The events that have transpired on the Israel-Syria border over the last 24 hours, particularly the lynching of wounded Syrians in an Israeli military ambulance by a Druze mob, crossed a dangerous line. These events should prompt everyone involved -- the state, the military, and above all the Israeli Druze community -- to seriously review procedures. The primary concern is that such events could drag Israel into the Syrian civil war, which is something the military has been doing its best to avoid. There are many groups that may seek retribution for Monday's events, either directly against the Druze community in Israel or against their brethren in Syria, in an effort to drag Israel into a war it has successfully avoided over the past four and a half years. To reduce the risks, Israel must make it clear to the various warring parties in Syria that it will mount a forceful response to any act of retribution, but it must also decide on guideline for any such response, or, in other words, Israel must decide how far it is willing to go for the Druze community. The conflicting messages of the past few days, ranging from "we won't interfere" to "we won't sit idly by while Druze are massacred" have left the community confused. This confusion has been compounded by false rumors, suggesting the injured rebels were actually operatives of the Nusra Front, which is now poised to overrun the Druze village of Hader, in the Syrian Golan Heights. The defense establishment also needs to thoroughly review the situation. Monday's incident was the second attack on a military ambulance within hours, but the adjustment to procedures following the first attack was minor -- one military police vehicle was added to the convoy -- and there was no coordination with law enforcement officials responsible for the situation on the ground. It was obvious that qualified personnel were not present at the scene. The review must also scrutinize available intelligence. The links between the Druze living on the Israeli side of the border and those living on the Syrian side of the border are known, and have been a hotbed of hostile activity in the past. The Shin Bet security agency and the police, who head intelligence gathering efforts in the area, are aware of this fact, and yet no one had any information indicating that hundreds of people -- according to various reports -- were planning to target a military convoy? And if there was intelligence to that effect, why was the military not made aware of it? Nevertheless, it is the Druze community that has to answer the truly difficult questions in the wake of Monday's event. For years, the community has maintained allegiance to both Israel and Syria, but it is time for it to choose between them, and it must declare its allegiance clearly. The Druze have the right to demand solutions, even ones that may pose dilemmas for Israel, such as absorbing Syrian Druze, but the ease in which violence was exercised against Israeli security forces indicates that something has gone terribly wrong in the community's perception of its rights and obligations where Israel is concerned. The next few days will likely see everyone involved call for cooler heads to prevail, and while such calls may be heeded for a while, as long as the fighting in Syria rages on, any event, even something as humanitarian as extracting wounded individuals from the war zone, will have a dual volatile potential vis-à-vis the Druze community in Israel and the rebels fighting in Syria.
