We can’t understand the reason for the US position in southern Syria and why it has lifted the cover off the armed opposition forces that it has always supported, unless we go through the intriguing offer made by Russia on behalf of Tehran displaying Iran’s commitment to Israeli conditions which opposition forces could not accept or did not want to comply to.

 

Many believe that this intriguing offer didn’t just promise commitment to the military and security conditions imposed by Israel on the Syrian army but have also promised not to breach the requirements of annexing Golan to the Hebrew state with Russian guarantees. 

 

US leaves Syrian rebels in the lurch 

Another point which confirms the fact that the Syrian regime and its allies have given guarantees to Israel is the magnitude of the US cover to the ongoing military operation against the opposition and the Israeli satisfaction towards this operation although it goes against the agreement of the de-escalation zones in southern Syria and which was approved by the American and Russian presidents and which Israel and Jordan contributed to solidifying.

 

Developments in southern Syria thus serve Israeli interests while the Syrians pay the price by ending the Syrian revolution that erupted from Daraa. This is in addition to the Syrians’ displacement due to Russian aerial bombardment of cities and towns. The number of the displaced now stands at over 200,000. Jordan has refused to receive them because it cannot host any more refugees, but the most important point is that Israel which gave the green light to launch this military operation, has issued subsequent statements on how it was helping the displaced Syrians who sought shelter close to the border of the Golan. It has also confirmed that its hospitals were giving medical assistance to those civilians injured by the bombings in more than one area in the south. Israeli media has started talking confidently on how the refugees have changed their mind about Israel after the help it provided to them.

 

In the strategic endgame, and amid the insistence on breaking the will for political change in Syria by providing all the military conditions to eliminate the opposition factions particularly on the Jordanian and Israeli borders and securing the conditions of the regime forces’ control over southern areas, one can expect a less hostile attitude towards Israel. The regime has enough experience to prevent any military action against Israel from Syrian territory, and the Syrian society in these areas now finds in Israel a less hostile enemy when its aggression is compared with the aggression of the regime and its Russian and Iranian allies.  

 

Gift of Axis of Resistance to Israel  

Israel wouldn’t have been able to attain this precious gift from the so-called Axis of the Resistance if it hadn’t been for the bloody regime and its genocidal behavior toward the Syrian people and its displacement of hundreds of thousands. Iran and its militias’ involvement via a sectarian approach has also made the Syrian people feel that their number one enemy is not Israel which occupies Golan but the party that’s taking their lives and properties.

 

In Helsinki, the US and Russian presidents will be present and so will Israel since it has played an active role in promoting Russian measures in Syria. The Russian president, who is aware that in just a few years he has provided to Israel what Washington hasn’t provided in decades in terms of strategic protection and safe channels towards the Syrian people, along with the ability to adapt the Iranian policy in the Lebanese and Syrian fields in order to ensure Israeli security for years to come, is expecting in return an Israeli reward from Washington’s vaults. The Russian-Israeli relationship has not witnessed cooperation to the extent seen in recent years. No Israeli official has expressed any concern over the Russian role in Syria and all factors point to the fact that Russia has become a highly respected state by the Israeli government.

 

This respect and relationship are now in competition with the close relationship of Tel Aviv and Washington. Putin expects that his friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plays a vital role in softening the position of Trump on issues related to ending or decreasing sanctions against Russia, as well as softening the US intervention in the vital Russian sphere.