A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Israel and Asad

Salman Masalha in Ha'aretz: "Israel's Favorite Arab Dictator of All is Asad". It's a curious truth, one that Israel's staunch supporter Joe Lieberman didn't seem to get when he recently suggested imposing a no-fly zone in Syria. It's no secret that the Israelis were unhappy to see Mubarak go, but he at least had a peace treaty. The situation with Asad is more complicated, in part preferring to stick with "the devil they know," and in part I suspect the fear that the Muslim Brotherhood or some other Sunni movement would be more confrontational than the longstanding ‘Alawite regime.

1 comment:

David Mack said...

The Syria-Israel truce line on the Golan Heights has seen virtually no incidents since 1973. Every 6 months, the UNSC routinely approves extension of the UNDOF mandate for truce observers, without objection from either Israel or Syria. It's an eloquent example of mutual interests between two nominal adversaries.