Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said this in a speech this week: “With God’s help and the valor of your comrades-in-arms who continue to fight even now, we will end this campaign when Syria is dismantled.”
The U.S. would prefer Syria and Israel to be peaceful neighbors. The Trump administration recently sent Syria a list of demands including destroying its chemical weapon stockpiles, banning certain Palestinian groups and searching for missing Americans. In a letter, the Syrian government says that it is willing to work towards those demands and that it will “not become a threat to Israel.”
Would Israel really accept Syria as a peaceful ally if the U.S. issued assurances?
The full context of Smotrich’s speech does not exactly show a desire for peace in the region. Here is the full quote: “With God’s help and the valor of your comrades-in-arms who continue to fight even now, we will end this campaign when Syria is dismantled, Hezbollah is severely beaten, Iran is stripped of its nuclear threat, Gaza is cleansed of Hamas and hundreds of thousands of Gazans are on their way out of it to other countries, our hostages are returned, some to their homes and some to the graves of Israel, and the State of Israel is stronger and more prosperous.”
The new government of Syria is trying to tell the world that it is no threat to Israel. Why would they say that? Because Syria is on Israel’s list and they don’t want to be the next Gaza.
