In August, al Nusra Front jihadists took control of Syria’s side of the border crossing with Israel and kidnapped over 40 United Nations peacekeepers — who have since been released.
But al Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-affiliate, isn’t Israel’s only threat from Syria. President Bashar al-Assad’s military, in a possible effort to bait Israel into its civil war to shore up Arab sympathies, has been lobbing mortars across the border. Just a few weeks ago, the Israeli military shot down a Syrian plane flying over the Golan Heights — the first time it has done so since the 1980s.
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In this extra scene, VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky encounters a group of bird-watchers at Mount Hermon — Israel’s highest point, overlooking the border between Lebanon and Syria. The highly-secured military location houses a nature preserve that’s a major destination for bird-watchers from around the world, seemingly unfazed by the conflict occurring nearby.
Watch the full length “The War Next Door”
Read “The Explosive End of Israel’s ‘Quietest Border’”
Read “Islamic State Fighters Capture Jordanian Pilot After Downing Coalition Warplane in Syria”
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