Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
IOF storm Jalazone camp, north of Al Bireh city in the occupied West Bank
Israeli media: A severe incident reported in Gaza some time ago
Israeli media: Military evacuation helicopters are transporting injured soldiers from Khan Younis
Israeli media: A security incident has been reported in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps - Quds Force announces the martyrdom of the head of the Palestine Unit Brigadier General Mohammad Said Izadi.
Sayyed Khamenei: The idea of Iran's surrender is laughable to the wise, for the Iranian people are strong and will remain strong, proud, and honorable.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Sayyed Khamenei: The insult directed by the Americans at the Iranian people will not prevail... Our people are great, our state is strong, and our civilization is deeply rooted in history.
Sayyed Khamenei: Downplaying the Iranian strike on Al-Udeid base aims to conceal the truth, and the coming days will reveal the extent of the enemies' losses.
Sayyed Khamenei: The Islamic Republic's targeting of vital American sites, such as Al-Udeid base, was not a passing event.
Sayyed Khamenei: The American president hides behind allegations to conceal the reality of what happened.

The Israeli Syria Dilemma

  • Robert Inlakesh Robert Inlakesh
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 15 May 2025 12:35
  • 2 Shares
8 Min Read

Robert Inlakesh discusses how Syria’s new leadership under Ahmad al-Sharaa is courting normalization with "Israel" from a position of weakness, enabling Zionist expansion into southern Syria while abandoning Palestinian and national resistance.

Listen
  • x
  • It is clear that the Israeli project in Syria is not over and that Tel Aviv seeks to use what it sees as a historic opportunity to divide the country and achieve “Greater Israel”. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)
    It is clear that the Israeli project in Syria is not over and that Tel Aviv seeks to use what it sees as a historic opportunity to divide the country and achieve “Greater Israel”. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Although it could appear that the Israelis are having their way with Syria, their aggression is short sighted and could at any moment backfire. The only reason they still enjoy the freedom to continue carrying on in the manner they are, is because of the leadership in Damascus.

Syria’s new President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his administration, staffed primarily by members of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have so far failed to take advantage of opportunity after opportunity that have fallen in their laps. Instead of uniting the country behind a common cause, working on building a strong functional nation, and finding some leverage to use in future negotiations, they chose the path of least resistance.

We have now reached a phase in Syria where President al-Sharaa, according to several sources who spoke to both Reuters and The Times, is considering a normalisation deal with the Zionist entity. To begin with, even the fact that this is being spoken of and he hasn’t denied it is an admission of guilt and represents a betrayal of the Palestinian people.

Yet, putting aside the fact that normalisation with the Zionist entity would make al-Sharaa and his administration directly complicit in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and a collaborator with the Israeli regime, it is a ridiculous move, politically speaking.

What we have to understand here is that the Israelis are not the ones begging Syria for a normalisation agreement, it is the other way around. However, the Syrian government has no leverage whatsoever. As al-Sharaa remains trapped between multiple regional and Western interests, he evidently has little wiggle room with which he can work in order to make his regime work.

For example, one of his primary backers is Turkiye, which has at least publicly expressed its interest in strengthening the Syrian State and also uniting it, whereas the Israelis put their foot down and are openly seeking balkanisation of the country. This all came to a head when the Syrian security forces were ordered to seize Druze majority areas south of Damascus and to head towards Sweida.

Unfortunately, al-Sharaa decided to completely dismantle the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and pull apart the security forces, meaning that the de facto military and security forces of the country are a collection of largely ill-trained and undisciplined militiamen. So, when they are sent into any area, we see sectarian bloodshed and lawlessness. This is then exploited by the Israelis, who back their own militia forces, falsely claiming to be on the side of Syria’s Druze community.

To give some context to this situation, the Israelis were giving military, financial, and medical aid to Jabhat al-Nusra - now rebranded as HTS - at a time when it was committing massacres against Druze civilians, yet are now pretending to be the saviours of those same communities. 

Because of the fact that al-Sharaa doesn’t have a real army or security forces yet, militarily, he is weak. Then, when he attempts to disarm Syrian villages, this only ends up dividing the country further. Meanwhile, the US, EU, UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and other players all have their own opinions on what Damascus should be doing.

Related News

The wheels fall off of 'Gideon’s Chariots' in Gaza

A free Syria can’t exist without a free Palestine

What al-Sharaa has chosen to do is suck up to the United States and the rest of the collective West, yet he lacks the intellectual prowess necessary to negotiate with them properly. Instead, he is floating ridiculous proposals like the construction of a Trump Tower in Damascus and a Ukraine-style resource deal with the US. He also believes that making friends with the West is as easy as joining a normalisation deal with the Zionist regime.

Yet, when the Israelis look at Syria, they see a leadership that is willing to crack down on the Palestinian Resistance, allow the occupation of their lands and abandons its own people who are coming under attack. Therefore, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu looks at the predicament of Syria and laughs at the prospect of normalisation for now, not because he doesn’t eventually seek this outcome, but because there is no need to entertain it yet.

Instead, the Israelis are looking to exploit the weakness of the Syrian leadership and push for finishing their agenda in at least the south of the country. The Zionists have long sought to annex a large portion of strategic territory in southern Syria, which they are doing without so much as a single bullet fired at them from the forces belonging to Damascus, while working alongside Syrian minority militias to extend their de facto control all the way to the Euphrates River.

The major challenge now, for the Zionist entity, has nothing to do with the government in Damascus, but rather how far it can get away with pushing. We have already seen signs from local forces in Daraa, that there are groups willing to defend their villages and cities. This local resistance, rather than the government, is the primary factor holding the Zionist advance back.

If you trace back to the reaction to the ambushes carried out against the convoys of Israeli soldiers in southern Syria, the immediate response was to withdraw and use airpower to inflict deaths and injuries in Daraa. It has now been over a month since the clashes occurred, and the Israelis have not admitted to their casualties, nor have they bothered returning on the ground.

The Israeli agenda does not actually encompass any areas that extend beyond Damascus, they have been very open with their intentions being contained to everywhere south of the Syrian Capital. Yet, they have painted themselves into a corner that could result in a brief incursion into Damascus at some point or another.

The Israeli Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged to come to the aid of the Druze communities in Syria, which has ended up causing tensions within the Israeli Druze population in occupied Palestine. The Israeli Druze serve crucial roles in the Israeli military and contribute greatly to the Zionist regime’s economy, therefore, when Netanyahu pledges to help the Druze of Syria, this is not a pledge he can simply go back on.

When Ahmed al-Sharaa sent his security forces towards Sweida, this caused protests amongst Israeli Druze and calls for a ground incursion to fight against the Syrian government forces. That night, Israeli airstrikes were launched within 500 meters of the Presidential palace as a warning to the Syrian president. This was followed by one of the largest bombing campaigns in past decades against the country.

In response, al-Sharaa capitulated and decided to arrest the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC), Talal Naji, likely in a good will gesture to help the Zionist regime locate the body of an Israeli soldier considered missing since 1982.

It is clear that the Israeli project in Syria is not over and that Tel Aviv seeks to use what it sees as a historic opportunity to divide the country and achieve “Greater Israel”. But this will come at a potentially huge cost, due to the fact that more action inside southern Syria will eventually lead to an organic resistance movement emerging. On the other hand, if the Zionists decide to engage with Syrian security forces on the ground, there is no telling how things could spiral out of control.

The Israelis simply do not have the ground capability to open up another broad front inside of Syria, because if they do so, they are going to leave themselves vulnerable on other fronts. If the current Syrian administration was politically intelligent, it would weaponise the situation to its benefit. Instead, it appears to be appealing for normalization without any need for Israeli concessions, meanwhile, Netanyahu doesn’t appear to be entertaining a deal at this time and wants to steal more from Syria first.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Druze
  • Israel
  • Druze in Syria
  • Sweida
  • Syria
  • Ahmad al-Sharaa
Robert Inlakesh

Robert Inlakesh

Political Analyst, Journalist, and Documentary Filmmaker.

Most Read

All
At the time of Vanunu’s whistleblowing, Western governments and intelligence agencies had been aware of "Israel’s" development of nuclear weapons for almost three decades. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Mahdi Rtail)

Hidden history: How 'Israel' acquired nukes

  • Opinion
  • 13 Jun 2025
Absent a full-scale American war on the Islamic Republic, Netanyahu has set up his regime and himself for a historic humiliation. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

The clock is ticking down to 'Israel’s' capitulation

  • Opinion
  • 18 Jun 2025
'Israel' burns its deck while Iran plays its cards right

'Israel' burns its deck while Iran plays its cards right

  • Opinion
  • 17 Jun 2025
Decoding Iran’s strategy in current war

Decoding Iran’s strategy in current war

  • Opinion
  • 19 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
For a while, it appeared as if the war was over, but Iran has now breathed new life into the spirits of the people in Gaza. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

‘Victory or martyrdom’: The liberation of Al-Quds is in reach

The wheels fall off of 'Gideon’s Chariots' in Gaza

The wheels fall off of 'Gideon’s Chariots' in Gaza

A free Syria can’t exist without a free Palestine

A free Syria can’t exist without a free Palestine

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS