Senior Biden administration officials have been urging Israel to establish direct ties with Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa [Abu Muhammad al-Golani], Channel 12 News reported on Monday evening.
The Biden administration, which last week dropped the $10M terror bounty on Al-Sharaa’s head due to his jihadist past, claimed to Israel that Al-Sharaa “is a pragmatic leader” and “your cooperation with him will strengthen Israel’s influence throughout the region.”
However, Israel is currently reluctant to do so as it is concerned that Al-Sharaa has not changed his ways but is merely saying the “right things” to the Western world to gain support for his new regime.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel (National Unity) called Al-Sharaa a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” at a press briefing last week.
“It’s important to avoid falling into the trap of the attempt to whitewash jihadists in Syria,” she said. “We know who they are and their true character, even if they change their names, and we understand how dangerous they are to the West. These are terrorist organizations and this is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
According to a Ynet report, Israeli security officials believe that the “rebels” are simply jihadists, otherwise known as terrorists, with Shiite jihadism now being replaced by Sunni jihadism.
“For now, the new regime will persuade the world it isn’t al-Qaida and will attempt to take control of the entire state and restore order. But in a year or two, it will begin framing the return of the Golan Heights as a sacred Islamic mission,” the report says.
Israel is also concerned about the stability of Al-Sharaa’s rule over the country. IDF reserve officer Miri Eisen told ILTV News this week that Syria splintered into thousands of factions following the fall of the Assad regime.
“Every town, every village is ruled by a different, brutal bully,” she said. “None of them are good guys. They fought each other, they fought against Assad, and right now they’re trying to establish something new.”
Eisen warned that the rebels are not potential partners for cooperation, saying: “We’re going to border Syria no matter what and I really hope that [their challenges in rebuilding] won’t be about us.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
So far, H-ashem has guided the decisions of Israel and thankfully they didn’t listen to the sage armchair generals of the US. The only way to deal with issues in tge Middle East is to speak their ‘language”. These bnei Yishmoel live by the sword, not by negotiations.