That is how Prime Minister Netanyahu has described the fall of the Assad regime to rebel forces.
Below we see Defense Minister Israel Katz, head of IDF Northern Command Maj Gen. Ori Gordin, and Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Golan Heights at the border with Syria today (Sunday):
Netanyahu and Katz have ordered the IDF to take over a demilitarized buffer zone on the Golan Heights to prevent encroachment of jihadi forces; the decision to take this action followed the entry of armed gunmen into the buffer zone. Syrian forces on the other side of the zone had departed leaving the way open to that zone from the Syrian side.
This action is being presented as a temporary defensive position because of the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria, which had been in place since 1974, following the end of the Yom Kippur war. For those years a UN observer force, UNDOF, was in place there.
It must be noted that while this is presented as temporary, what will actually happen depends on our relationship with the forces that have taken over Syria.
The IDF has deployed as well in other areas in the north of the Golan that might be threatened by rebel forces; four Druze communities, including the major Druze community of Majdal Shams, fall within this area.
And the IDF has now taken control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon (see it at the northern tip of the demilitarized zone, below).
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) has called for full control of the demilitarized zone, in order to establish a new line of defense along the Syrian border. Whether this might happen remains to be seen.
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Bashar Assad, the dictator who long served as president of Syria, has left the country and there are reports that he may be dead (in an airplane crash).
That he is gone is a blessing to Syria and to Israel. He was an exceedingly vile man who gassed his own people, including children, during the Syrian civil war, which was on-going roughly from 2011 (at first inspired by the Arab Spring) to 2015. The bitter irony is that he had been trained as a doctor.
It was the intervention of Russia – which maintained a presence in Syria in the years following – that saved him at the end of the civil war. In addition to that intervention, there had been financial support provided by Iran and military assistance from Hezbollah.
But even as the war ended, Assad did not secure control of the entire country. The uprising had been joined by a number of different factions, among them Islamic State, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), comprised mostly of Kurds and Assyrians, and a rebel group, the Syrian National Army, supported by Turkey. Thus, there were regions – notably in the province of Idlib and an area in the northeast – that remained under rebel control.
The seeds for another uprising existed within the country.
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That the Assad regime was at risk of tumbling now was clearly recognized, for its primary sources of assistance were floundering. A severely weakened Hezbollah was in no position to send support forces; Iran, similarly, was in a weakened condition; and Russia was occupied in the Ukraine. Additionally, even when Assad was still in control, Israel had been striking Syrian missile and chemical weapon production sites along with border locations utilized for transmitting weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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The rebels saw their opportunity, but it all happened more swiftly than had been anticipated. It was all over in less than two weeks. What we are looking at is a coalition of Sunni groups that came together to act against Shi’ite forces. (Assad himself and his father Hafez, who ruled Syria before him, were members of the minority Alawite religion.)
The dominant force within the insurgent Sunni coalition is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Al-Jolani was once affiliated with Al Qaida and established the al-Nusra Front as Al Qaida’s branch in Syria. He has since projected a more moderate stance, fashioning himself as a revolutionary and not a jihadist. He no longer wears the turban of the jihadist but simply the army uniform of a revolutionary.
Whatever he is, jihadist or revolutionary (not a true moderate, most certainly), he brilliantly prepared his forces to overthrow the Assad regime. At the very end of November, the rebels took Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, and swept across the country in a lightning maneuver. By early this morning Damascus had fallen and Assad had fled.
The dust has not even begun to settle, and so it’s a waiting game until we learn more about how those who control Syria now will conduct themselves and what their agenda will be. There are those uneasy that beneath that army uniform Al-Jolani wears there still beats the heart of a jihadist.
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Israel has made it clear that we have no intention of interfering in Syrian affairs and intend only to protect our borders and our security. Netanyahu has advanced words of friendship.
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I will close by citing from an assessment from Yaakov Lappin, who believes that despite the risks, the fall of Assad is a net gain for Israel (emphasis added):
“After losing its influence in Gaza and Lebanon due to Israel’s military achievements against Hamas and Hezbollah, Assad’s collapse in Syria has delivered another major defeat to Iran’s regional aspirations.
“The Assad regime was one of the central pillars of Iran’s plan to achieve regional hegemony, and for positioning its axis in a manner intended to lead to Israel’s collapse.
”The bridge Iran constructed to link itself to the Mediterranean and Israel’s northern doorstep has collapsed. The scope of Iran’s loss in Syria, in terms of money, arms, time and effort, cannot be overstated. Iran’s regional stance, already deteriorating, has now been further weakened.
“The Assad regime was an integral part of an Iranian “ring of fire” that would encircle the Jewish state with heavily armed proxy terror armies. The ring of fire vision was pioneered by the late Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. It was one of the factors that turned the Iranian-led Shi’ite axis into the most capable and dangerous of Israel’s adversaries.
“…Israel will have to monitor their activities closely. Yet, when stacked against the capabilities of the Iranian-led Shi’ite axis, these Sunni rebels represent a far weaker force, with fewer advanced capabilities and a limited focus that remains largely confined to Syrian territory, at least for the near future.”
https://www.jns.org/why-the-fall-of-assad-is-a-net-gain-for-israel-despite-risks/
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Please, pray with a full heart…
[] for the safety of the Jewish People everywhere,
[] for the continued strength and courage of Israel’s leaders as they make the hard decisions,
[] for the safety of our soldiers in battle as they fight a righteous war,
[] and for the rescue of the hostages.
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
