Israel is not indifferent to the Syrian tragedy. Occasionally it even displays active involvement. From time to time Israeli air force planes storm missile depots and weapons making their way to Hezbollah strongholds (according to “foreign sources,” of course). Military analysts announce that Israel is “closely monitoring” signs of chemical weapons use, discuss “red lines” and explain the meaning of “tie-breaking” weaponry. I remember that in March 2012, when horrific pictures showing victims of a Syrian air force bombing on civilian population centers north of the town of Homs were aired on television, then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said: “The state of the Jewish people cannot sit idly by while atrocities are being committed in a neighboring state and people are losing all they have.” Liberman instructed his ministry to offer the International Red Cross humanitarian aid from Israel for Syrian civilians. The Syrian refugees are still waiting.

At his meeting last week (April 30) with the new pope, Francis I, President Shimon Peres warned of the weapons of mass destruction being developed by Iran and of the chemical weapons being stored in Syria. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate added that he “fears for the fate of the citizens of Iran and Syria under their current fanatical leadership.” He fears? Really? And what is the Nobel Peace Prize laureate willing to do for the sake of Syria’s citizens?

Given its special status in the region (the Arab Peace Initiative which proposes normalization between Israel and the Arab states is still gathering dust), Israel should not be the one to lead a military intervention in Syria. On the other hand, one might have hoped and, yes, even demanded, that in addition to the close monitoring of weapons transfers, the bombings and the wide-scale military reserve exercise held at the end of last week on the Golan Heights [April 30], Israel had devoted efforts to preparing a small part of the Golan Heights to take in Syrian refugees. There was plenty of time to get ready and resources could have been found.

Israel’s concern and sensitivity to the transfer of munitions to Hezbollah is understandable; what’s hard to accept is the indifference toward the plight of its neighbors exhibited by the country that prides itself of being “a villa in the jungle” and “the only democracy in the Middle East.” Jordan. Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, the other countries bordering Syria, have already taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the Syrian inferno. And Israel, the only country in the world that holds Syrian territory, keeps looking on from the sidelines. The policy of the Netanyahu government is reminiscent of the Begin government’s policy toward the horrible war between Iraq and Iran (1980-1988). Asked which side he supports, the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin answered with a smile: “We wish both sides the best of luck.” In Iran, by the way, they still remember this phrase.