Israel: Israel’s priority in Syria is Iran, not Assad, says former NSC official
A Gulf channel to Syria? Israel could support diplomacy by Arab Gulf states to reconnect with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, if those efforts wean Assad off of dependence on Iran, says former Israeli national security official Micky Aharonson in the latest On the Middle East podcast.
While it is difficult to envision Iran leaving Syria, Aharonson says that boxing in Assad with sanctions and closing down diplomatic channels, as the Trump administration has done, presents no alternative path to checking Iran’s influence with Damascus. If there were an option for Syria to normalize ties with friendly Arab states, says Aharonson, Syria might act in a way more conducive to US and Israeli interests.
A question of interests, not justice: “We all know what Assad is,” Aharonson says, "and if there could be justice in this world he could pay for what he did,” adding, “It’s not a question of justice now, it’s a question of interests.”
“Israeli interest is to have Iran as far away from its borders as possible. … I don’t think we are privileged enough to discuss moral issues when we have Iranian military equipment directed against us on our borders.”
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