Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel has been examining options to stop Islamist militias on the Golan Heights.

Israeli sources said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was consulting with the military and intelligence community to determine measures to stop the expansion of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as well as the Nusra Front for the Defense of the Levant on the Syrian side of the Golan.

The officials said Netanyahu has also come under pressure from the United States to end Israel’s neutral policy and help pro-Western rebels.

“The ability to stay neutral in the face of ISIL will be impossible,” a source said. “The question is do we wait until ISIL destroys all the rebels and then intervene or begin to help those who will fight the Islamists?”

The sources acknowledged that Netanyahu has sought to avoid another front amid concerns of war by Hamas and Hizbullah. They said any Israeli operation on the Syrian side of the Golan could unite all forces, including the Syrian military.

For more than three years, Israel’s portion of the Golan was quiet amid the civil war in neighboring Syria. But since July 2014, Islamic militias linked to Al Qaida and ISIL have taken over the Syrian frontier with Israel, including the United Nations peace-keeping enclave around Quneitra.

Since August, the UN Disengagement and Observers Force no longer patrols the buffer zone between Israel and Syria. Instead, most of UNDOF fled the area amid attacks by Nusra, which included the abduction of scores of observers.

At the same time, the Syrian Army was no longer operating around Quneitra. The sources said the army’s 61st and 90th Brigades, based near the Israeli frontier, collapsed.

In contrast, Nusra and its militia allies have taken over the border area. So far, Nusra has not openly attacked Israel’s military or civilian areas on the Golan.

“There are rebels who badly want assistance from Israel and are keeping things quiet,” another source said. “They could either be trained and equipped by Israel or be swept away by ISIL as in other areas of Syria.”

  Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel eyes Golan as U.S. increases pressure to join fight against ISIL, Nusra Front, pro-Western Syrian rebels, Quneitra