According to the Financial Times of the UK, Tom Barrack, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria, stated on August 22 that Israel’s air strike on a Syrian airbase this week may have been a move driven by domestic political considerations—aimed at "drawing Turkey into conflict" ahead of the autumn elections.

This marks the harshest public criticism yet from the U.S. government regarding Israel's military operation.

Barrack directly linked the airstrike to Israeli domestic politics, suggesting its motives might not be purely security-related but rather an "aggressive yet electorally popular" strategy adopted by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government amid falling poll numbers ahead of the October election. The U.S. believes Israel deliberately targeted locations inside Syria in an attempt to "provocate Turkey into conflict." Should Turkey respond forcefully, Netanyahu could then showcase his "tough stance in defending national security" to domestic voters, thereby deflecting internal political pressures and securing votes.

The rare U.S. backlash stems fundamentally from Israel’s actions seriously threatening American strategic interests in the Middle East. Turkey is a core member of NATO, while Israel remains America’s top ally in the Eastern Mediterranean. Israel’s strike on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur Air Base directly touched upon Turkey’s core interests. The U.S. is deeply concerned that a direct military confrontation between these two key allies could completely dismantle the carefully constructed security architecture in the Middle East. Barrack even warned that if Turkey scrambled fighter jets to intercept Israeli forces, such an "unnecessary escalation" could potentially spiral into a "third world war."

Barrack’s stern criticism serves not only as a warning against Israel’s unilateral military action but also as an urgent "cooling-off" measure by the United States to rebalance regional alliances and prevent further escalation. This signals that although the U.S. and Israel remain allies, Washington will no longer unconditionally accept Israel’s manipulation of domestic politics when it comes to issues involving America’s core geopolitical interests and its red line on avoiding new conflicts.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874279831545034/

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