Lahav Harkov
Jewish Insider, Dec. 8, 2024
“… a nuclear Iran is a more immediate and tangible matter.”
With the stunning fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, another branch of Iran’s “axis of resistance” to Israel has been eliminated, a positive development with strategic opportunities for Israel, though there are still risks to the Jewish state, experts told Jewish Insider.
The lightning-quick rebel takeover of Syria came after Israeli military achievements against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the killing of much of both groups’ leadership and the elimination of a significant portion of their military infrastructure over the past year.
Visiting the border with Syria on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “the Assad regime a central link in the Iranian axis of evil,” and said its downfall was a “direct result of our blows to Iran and Hezbollah, the Assad regime’s main supporters,” which “created a chain reaction throughout the Middle East.”
Iran’s foreign ministry released a statement saying that “Syria’s future must be decided by its people, free from external interference and imposition. Relations with Syria are expected to persist…based on common interests.” … [To read the full article, click here]