Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad claimed on Sunday to have found an “Israeli spying device”.
The rebels posted a video, shortly after capturing the city of Tafas in the Deraa region from Assad’s forces. In the video the rebels present the alleged “spying device” which, they claimed, was used by the Syrian army against rebels.
It is obvious, however, that the rebels’ Hebrew is weak, as the so-called “spying device” was in fact a measuring device belonging to the Israel Meteorological Institute.
The video clearly shows the Hebrew writing on the device, which says, “This device was flown on a balloon and used for meteorological measurements at a [high] altitude. Anyone who finds this device is asked to return it to the Meteorological Institute in Beit Dagan or to the nearest police station.”
Israel has more than once clarified that it is not a part of the civil war in Syria and does not take sides in the fighting, but that hasn’t stopped Assad and rebels from accusing the other of being supported by Israel.
Assad, likely in an effort to win the support of the Syrian people, has claimed that Israel is assisting the rebels fighting to topple his regime.
A commander in the Syrian opposition recently claimed the exact opposite, that Israel was collaborating with Iran and Hezbollah to keep Assad in power.