Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday stated the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria was a “direct outcome” of Israel’s army marketing campaign towards Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
“This is a historic day within the historical past of the Middle East,” he stated.
But in an indication of the potential hazard Israel feels from unknown rulers in Damascus, Netanyahu stated he had ordered the army to grab the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the remainder of Syria.
“Together with the protection minister and with the complete assist of the federal government, yesterday I gave orders to the IDF to take management of the buffer zone and the dominant positions near it,” he stated throughout the go to to the Golan Heights. “We won’t enable any hostile pressure to determine itself on our border.”
It is the primary time Israeli troops have been stationed within the buffer zone because the 1974 settlement establishing the Line of Control between Israel and Syria, though they’ve entered no man’s land for temporary durations prior to now. Since 1974, the buffer zone has been patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.
Israeli leaders are watching occasions throughout the border in Syria with a mix of trepidation and pleasure, as 50 years of détente have been overturned in a matter of hours.
“We do not know a lot,” stated Boaz Shapira, a researcher on the Alma Foundation, a suppose tank devoted to points in northern Israel. “The scenario we had been used to in Syria prior to now – 50 years with the Assad regime – has utterly modified.”
Bashar al-Assad was definitely not an ally, however there was an settlement that allowed the 2 international locations to coexist. Although Israel every so often offered treatment to the victims of the Syrian civil warfare, has maintained official neutrality within the battle. For years the Israeli military has additionally focused the provision traces of Iran and its Hezbollah proxies in Syria, particularly killing Iranian military commanders within the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April – however prevented focusing on the Assad regime itself.
The rebels’ fast seize of Damascus means Israeli leaders must weigh the implications for their very own safety.
Iran has now misplaced one in all its most essential bastions within the area. This will likely be trigger for celebration in Israel, which has been combating Iranian-backed forces in Gaza (Hamas) and Lebanon (Hezbollah) since October final 12 months.
Netanyahu, who stated the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was a step towards altering “the steadiness of energy within the area for years to come back,” will see this as progress towards that objective.
Mordechai Kedar, who specialised in Syrian affairs throughout a 25-year profession in Israeli army intelligence, stated occasions in Syria had been a domino impact of the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel. “It will not simply be Israel, however the entire Middle East will rejoice,” he advised CNN.
An individual raises a Syrian opposition flag in a Druze village within the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, December 8, 2024, as males rejoice the autumn of the Assad regime. – Stojan Nenov/Reuters
The collapse of the Assad regime is a “arduous blow” to Iran, stated Amos Yadlin, a former main normal of the Israel Defense Forces who additionally served as head of the Military Intelligence Directorate.
“The rebels who tore down posters of Soleimani and Nasrallah from the Iranian embassy in Damascus illustrate the severity of the blow to the axis,” he stated. “Rebuilding Hezbollah appears much more tough with the lack of Syria, which supplied a logistical rearguard for the weapons of Assad, Iran and Russia.”
On the opposite hand, nobody is aware of – not even in Israel – who the rebels who now management Syria are, and the way they may implement their energy.
The offensive was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate. The American authorities nonetheless has a $10 million bounty on the pinnacle of its chief, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, whose actual title is Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Kedar stated that regardless of their radical roots, preliminary indications are constructive. “So far they’re fairly rational,” he stated. “For instance, they’re leaving the administration of the nation to the federal government.”
Jolani known as on insurgent forces to depart state establishments unhurt. “All army forces current within the metropolis of Damascus are strictly prohibited from approaching public establishments, which can stay underneath the supervision of the previous Prime Minister till their official handover, and are additionally prohibited from firing projectiles into the air,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Here they’re studying from the errors of the Americans in Iraq. They do not need to destroy the nation. They need the system to work, clearly with totally different guidelines and totally different management. This is a really rational approach of governing the nation.”
Yadlin stated Jolani “demonstrated nice political sophistication and conquered Syria virtually with out a battle.”
“In the brief time period, the rebels pose no risk to Israel,” he stated. “When he’s requested to determine his authorities in Syria, he won’t be concerned with probably the most highly effective army pressure within the area. Israel should outline the foundations of the sport towards Syria in the identical aggressive approach because it does in Lebanon.”
This view will not be common. Israeli Minister of Diaspora and Anti-Semitism Amichai Chiklisaid said in a statement that “the underside line is that the majority of Syria is now underneath the management of al-Qaeda and Daesh associates.” He known as for the Israeli military to determine full management throughout the buffer zone that has existed since 1974 between Israeli-controlled territory and Syrian territory.
Indeed, Israel’s high precedence will likely be to safe the border with Syria. The IDF stated the troop deployment throughout the Golan buffer zone was carried out “to make sure the protection of the Golan Heights communities and the residents of Israel.”
Shapira stated he doubts Israel needs to impress the brand new leaders in Damascus by pushing into the Syrian-controlled Golan. “Taking over extra territory means now we have to cope with different gamers who won’t be so glad about it,” he added.
“There are dozens of various militias,” Shapira stated. “It will likely be very difficult for Israel.”
The Israeli army, in its assertion on operations within the Golan, stated: “The State of Israel doesn’t intrude within the inside battle in Syria.”
Israel’s high political and safety leaders have remained largely silent on occasions in Syria – little doubt, whereas they weigh how you can reply.
Opposition chief Yair Lapid stated Assad’s ouster underlined the necessity to “create a robust regional coalition with Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords international locations (Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Sudan) to collectively tackle regional instability. The Iranian axis has weakened considerably and Israel should battle for a world political consequence that additionally helps it in Gaza and the West Bank.”
CNN’s Abeer Salman and Mike Schwartz in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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