Stray mortar fire isn’t something most if us deal with, but Israel certainly is. On Wednesday, two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured by mortar fire from Syria, according to the IDF Blog.
The IDF believes at this point the mortar incident was due to “errant fire as a result of heavy fighting in Syria.” Accident or not, it’s explosives striking another country – and that’s not good for you.
It’s a reminder that while the US isn’t looking to go to war in Syria now – thanks to the deal to get rid of the Syrian chemical weapons – the situation still isn’t calm. Considering there are both rebels and regime-supporters in Syria that hate Israel, there is still a risk that Syria could try to drag Israel into their civil war.
That’s also why Israel can’t afford to not respond to incidents such as the mortar one. If crazy soldiers or terrorists think they can attack Israel because they won’t do anything, that could lead to worse violence. The IDF Blog noted they “retaliated towards the source of the fire” after Wednesday’s mortar incident.
That raises the stakes for Israel in a life-and-death way, and for you in an economic one. The more tension and violence in the Middle East, the greater the chance that oil prices will rise and hit you at the pump.
Israel, according to the IDF Blog, formally complained to the United Nations. You should be concerned as well.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, October 9, 2013)