JEWISH SENTINEL

4 JEWISH SENTINEL • DECEMBER 20-26, 2024 Friday, Dec 20 Candles at 4:12pm Shabbat ends 5:16pm Hanukkah Candles First Night Dec. 25 at 4:34 pm Friday, Dec 27 Candles at 4:17pm Shabbat ends 5:21 pm 4 JE ISH WORLD • DECEMBER 20-26, 2024 What Israel must do now that Assad is gone Israel must work to minimize future ties between Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, especially military assistance. One Down, One To Go 115 Middle Neck Rd. Great Neck, NY 11021 516-818-1733 The award-winning independent Jewish newspaper of Long Island Publisher & editor-in-chief Jerome Wm. Lippman Assistant Editor Jeff Helmreich Features Editor Barbara Weinblatt Travel Editor Tania Grossinger Contributors Douglas M. Bloomfield, Shira Dicker, Lawrence J. Epstein, Marcelle Sussman Fischler, Ezra Goldstein,, Sandy Portnoy, Joseph R. Rackman, Erica Rauzin, Walter Ruby, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Barbara Schultz, Jacob Stein, Carol Steinberg, Harold S. 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Local Offices: 1441 President Street Brooklyn, N.Y. 11213 311 W. 37th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 He Learned His Lesson Benjamin Netanyahu learned the hard way that if you shut your eyes and invent a 'conception,' your enemy will hit you at the worst possible moment. Bibi, Syria, and what Oct. 7 taught him continued on page 21 A Syrian rebel fighter inspects the damage at a military site in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria. PERSPECTVE Israeli soldiers in Syria earlier this month. continued on page 18 ANALYSIS By NEHEMIA SHTRASLER I t was a dramatic, extraordinary event – the elimination of a country's military capabilities in three days. It happened when Israeli warplanes attacked 350 military tar- gets in Syria and destroyed air- planes, helicopters, missiles, drones, warships, tanks, weapon depots, ra- dar systems, and anti-aircraft batter- ies, in addition to chemical weapon stockpiles. At the same time, the Is- rael Defense Forces took control of the Syrian portion of Mount Her- mon and the demilitarized zone along the border with Syria. It's preferable for the jihadist factions in Syria, who have declared their de- sire "to liberate Jerusalem," to have fewer airplanes and chemical weapons. The quick action, which began immediately with the fall of the Syr- ian regime and President Bashar As- sad's escape to Russia, would not have been carried out if it weren't for the lessons of October 7. Prime Min- ister Benjamin Netanyahu learned the hard way that if you shut your eyes and invent a "conception," your enemy will hit you at the worst pos- sible moment. In addition, if Net- anyahu hadn't felt guilty over the October 7 massacre, he wouldn't have even dreamed of approving a preemptive war that would prevent another disaster. After all, he's the champion regarding delay and self-protection. If October 7 hadn't happened, he would have said: No need to rush. We shouldn't make waves. Let's in- vestigate. Maybe in the meantime, we can send cash to the rebels. In the process, days and weeks would have elapsed until the rebel leaders had already established themselves in power, taking control of the air- planes, ships, and tanks, and then it would have been too late for Israel By CHARLES DAVID FREILICH T he fall of Bashar al-Assad, a brutal dictator, mass murder- er, and Israel's bitter enemy, is gratifying and even exhilarating. The more profound question, how- ever, is whether it serves Israel’s in- terests, and to what extent. For Israel, a sovereign and stable state along its border—one that can be deterred—is always preferable to non-state entities, especially ex- tremist Islamist groups. At least, the regime headed by Hafez al-Assad and his son after him maintained a quiet border for 50 years, arguably that regime’s only positive deed. The rebels are likely to focus, at least at first, on consolidating their rule and domestic reconstruction rather than messing with Israel. However, some have already made their long-term intentions clear. Thus, Israel must make sure that it completes the highly successful military operations it launched to prevent the Syrian rebels from seiz- ing all the Syrian army’s military ca- pabilities—conventional and uncon- ventional, known and unknown (including thousands of tanks, artil- lery, missiles, air and naval assets, chemical weapons, and possibly the elements of a reconstituted nuclear program). Israel must also renew previous collaborations with moderate rebel groups (including medical assis- tance) and strengthen ties with Syr- ia’s Druze and Kurds to create a counterbalance to the Islamist rebels and Turkey’s growing influence in Syria. Concurrently, Israel must work to minimize future ties between Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, especially mili- tary assistance, and to complete the disintegration of the “axis of resis- tance.” The fall of the Syrian regime has already weakened Iran and Hezbol- lah’s military presence. Their re- placement by extremist Sunni groups will further complicate the transfer of aid to the Shia Islamists of Hezbollah Friday, Dec 20 Candles at 4:12pm Shabbat ends 5:16pm Hanukkah Candles First Night ec. 25 at 4:34 t :