Obama Administration Blames Israel for Attack on Syrian Military Base: Why?

As reported by The Times of Israel in an article entitled "Israel ‘furious’ with White House for leak on Syria strike" (http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-furious-with-white-house-for-leak-on-syria-strike/):

"Israel is fuming with the White House for confirming that it was the Israeli Air Force that struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Wednesday, hitting weaponry that was set to be transferred to Hezbollah.

Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the strike, one of half a dozen such attacks widely ascribed to Israel in recent months, but an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday that Israeli warplanes had indeed attacked the Syrian base, and that the target was 'missiles and related equipment' set for delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

. . . .

Channel 2′s military analyst, Roni Daniel, said the Obama administration’s behavior in leaking the information was unfathomable.

Daniel noted that by keeping silent on whether it carried out such attacks, Israel was maintaining plausible deniability, so that Syria’s President Bashar Assad did not feel pressured to respond to the attacks.

But the US leaks 'are pushing Assad closer to the point where he can’t swallow these attacks, and will respond.' This in turn would inevitably draw further Israeli action, Daniel posited, and added bitterly: 'Then perhaps the US will clap its hands because it will have started a very major flare-up.'

Channel 2 speculated that the US might have leaked word of Israel’s attack as a warning to Israel to desist from such actions. Alternately, it might be seeking to signal that it was part of the tough policy designed to prevent a flow of sophisticated weaponry to Assad. But these and other possible explanations simply didn’t justify the leak, which the TV report described as 'illogical' and 'foolish.'"

Actually, Israel's Channel 2 is ascribing too much sophistication to the White House official who leaked the report, a fool who simply took puerile pleasure in passing on the information to a friend at CNN.

Will this person be reprimanded? Not a chance. After all, Israel is undertaking what Obama couldn't bring himself to do, i.e. enforce a "red line." The "red line" in Israel's instance involves a ban on transporting sophisticated missile and antiaircraft systems from the Assad regime to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In short, the Obama administration's fundamental antagonism toward Israel has not changed during the American president's second term.