Part 6/8:
Shifting focus, Downer addressed recent Israeli military actions in Syria, particularly Israel's strikes on military targets. While critical voices often oppose such interventions, Downer defended Israel’s motives, suggesting they are aligned with protecting vulnerable minorities, specifically the Druze community in Syria.
He emphasized that the Druze population in Syria, numbering around 700,000, faces threats from the Syrian regime’s military actions and that Israel's military responses aim to prevent massacres. Downer argued that criticisms of Israel for these defensive operations tend to be rooted in anti-Semitism, as the lives of different minorities—such as the Druze—are often overlooked.