’Israeli’ Fears the Division in Syria

Local Editor

Former Zionist official: divided Syria puts Tel Aviv in danger

Former Deputy "Israeli" War Minister Efraim Sneh considered that Syria is divided into two, one area ruled by the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad sponsored by Iran and Russia, and the second is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda.

Talking to "Israeli" daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, Sneh said that this divided Syria endangers and challenges "Israel" at a time where al-Assad's ruling has become more linked and attached to Iran than ever before while the various missile powers threaten the internal "Israeli" front.

In parallel, al-Qaeda was able to acquire direct access to targets in "Israel", and in light of the increasing power of the organization in Iraq, "Israel" is close to a new and very extreme Sunni entity with high intelligence ability.

Sneh also indicated that the civil war in Syria placed the country in a true state of division because neither side can beat the other.

Moreover, the former deputy war minister argued that without any conclusiveness, Syria will be divided, and although there are no decisive geographic borders, partition is manifesting right in front of our eyes.

"The coast and its cities, Homs, al-Quseir, its southern countryside, and Damascus and its surroundings form the Alawite country controlled by President al-Assad with help from Tehran and Moscow. As for Euphrates valley, cutting Syria from the northwest to the southeast from Turkey's borders to Iraq's, forms the country of Islam controlled by al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood," Sneh believed.

"Al-Qaeda is backed by Saudis and Qataris, while [the Muslim Brotherhood] is backed by Turkey. There is no foreign force that backs the secular opposition, so that is why Islamists will prevail," he added.

Sneh further claimed that Iran is making use of this new situation, since it saved its ally al-Assad's regime, and now it can establish a strong base of missiles and chemical weapons on the Mediterranean coast and north "Israel" [occupied Palestine].

Furthermore, Sneh viewed that Syria's division does not make "Israel's" strategic situation any better; the missile power of Syria and Hizbullah is a practical control, used as a ground for an advanced offensive on "Israel". Syria's ports will also remain as supplying routes from Iran to Syria and Hizbullah.

Therefore, despite al-Assad's control over Damascus, Salafist organizations will still have direct access to a large part of the Golan Heights, and so the danger of the Islamist effect spreading to Jordan will not diminish, but rather grow stronger, General Efraim Sneh argued.

He further concluded by saying that Syria's new divided reality between al-Qaeda and Iran is not by any way relieving, so forces who plan to build or curb these forces must remain alert. 

Source: Yedioth Ahronoth, translated and edited by website team