IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Erez Eshel. Photo: Facebook.

An IDF reservist officer published an impassioned Facebook post on Thursday calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dispatch a detachment of Israeli soldiers to Syria to end the bloodshed in Aleppo.

“My dear brave brothers and sisters, our father, Abraham, fearlessly joined the war of the kings (Genesis, chapter 14),” Lt. Col. (res.) Erez Eshel — a 47-year-old education professional and right-wing political and social activist — wrote. “Isn’t it time that at least 1000 experienced and well trained officers in reserves come together — officers who command 30-100 soldiers each — and stand outside the government office of [the prime minister], as he sits with members of his cabinet this coming Sunday morning, and declare: ‘Mr. Prime Minister, we are prepared to go to war. Now. In Syria. We are prepared to kill and be killed, in order to stop the massacre of men, women, and children, which is happening as we speak.”

”Cruel people are committing brutal murder under the Assad regime,” Eshel continued. “Less than 80 years ago our grandfathers and grandmothers prayed and cried out for a nation that would be willing to risk its life in order to save them. They prayed for an army that would be brave and moral enough to fight, kill and be killed, in order to stop the Nazi oppressor. There was no such nation.”

Furthermore, he noted, “We have had the privilege to cultivate a strong generation and establish a powerful army, with brave warriors, who can overcome evil and wrongdoings.”

In conclusion, Eshel wrote, “Mr. Prime Minister, send us on a mission. We will arrive in Aleppo in three days and stop the destruction. And if you choose not to send us, give us your reasons. Tell us why. Reasons that are based on fear, weakness and national egotism are unacceptable. Brothers and sisters, is this not our duty?”

Since the conflict in Syria began in 2011, Israel has sought to remain neutral. However, the IDF has responded with pinpoint strikes to occasional cross-border fire — both errant and intentional — in the Golan Heights and has also reportedly targeted a number of Hezbollah-bound weapons convoys in Syria in recent years.

Just last week, as reported in The Algemeiner, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Jewish state was doing “what is necessary” to prevent Syria from funneling advanced military equipment and weapons of mass destruction to Hezbollah.

In remarks made at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Lieberman stated that Israel had “no interest in intervening” in Syria, but its top concern was to “maintain public security and defend our sovereignty.”

“Our policies and positions are very clear, and they are based on three red lines: We will not allow any harm to come to the Israeli public, we will not allow anyone to undermine Israel’s sovereignty and we will not allow the smuggling of sophisticated weapons or chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon and to Hezbollah,” Lieberman said.

As reported by The Algemeiner, thousands of Syrians wounded in the ongoing war in their country have been received medical treatment at Israeli hospitals.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that the evacuation of thousands of civilians and rebel fighters from Aleppo had gotten underway as part of a ceasefire agreement that would end the fighting in what was once Syria’s largest city. In recent weeks, nearly all of Aleppo has come under the control of the Russia and Iran-backed forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and there have been widespread reports of human rights violations and atrocities taking place.