Netanyahu: Assad’s fall brings change and challenges to Syria

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a significant visit to the Israeli-Syrian border on Sunday, where he declared the collapse of the Assad regime a transformative moment for the Middle East, while acknowledging both the prospects and risks ahead.

Netanyahu said:

This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad’s main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression.

This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers.

We send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the… pic.twitter.com/yJZE3AZZJn

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 8, 2024

But it also means that we have to take action against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night, it collapsed. The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.

Here is Jeffrey Sachs on Morning Joe explaining how Obama deployed the Brennan CIA in a regime change op to begin the Syrian Civil War to take out Assad that armed jihadists and created ISIS pic.twitter.com/ClQoSPZVYx

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 8, 2024

Equally, we send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We’re going to follow events very carefully. If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel.

Following these developments, IDF forces entered the demilitarized zone to prevent potential rebel attacks. Reports from Israel’s Army Radio confirmed that IDF personnel had successfully secured control of Mount Hermon’s peak on the Syrian side.