The Options We Face in Syria – And What’s Good for Israel
Eyal Hulata | FDD | Dec 20, 2024
The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria in the face of rebel groups, primarily Hayat Tahrir al-Sham headed by Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, constitutes a genuine turning point in the Middle East. For years, the murderous Assad regime brutally repressed the gamut of Syria’s minority groups and, with Russian and Iranian support, managed to repress rebellions and assert its authority. The fall of Assad is another sign of the collapse of the Iranian axis on Israel’s northern front. Israel must now prepare for the new reality that is rapidly emerging in front of our eyes.
It is unclear whether Al-Jolani’s attempts to reunite Syria into a single entity will succeed or whether Syria will continue to be a patchwork of minority groups fighting each other. Israel, for its part, should continue backing the minorities that cooperate with it (especially the Druze and the Kurds) and keep hostile elements away from its border. Israel also did the right thing by exploiting the opportunity to destroy Syria’s remaining military capabilities and ensuring that its air defense capabilities, military equipment, and offensive weaponry do not fall into the hands of extremist forces. In this context, it is important to remember that Assad had an enormous stockpile of chemical weapons, and it can be assumed that the IDF airstrikes did not manage to destroy them all. If this weaponry falls into the hands of Islamist extremists, this could set a dangerous precedent not just for Israel but also for Western countries. In my opinion, before Western countries rush to embrace the emerging government in Syria and its backers in Ankara, they must demand the immediate entry of forces trained to collect all the stockpiles of non-conventional weapons and capabilities, (as the United States and Russia partly did in 2013) — the sooner the better.
