GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 435

Syria In Transition

Crossed Red Line

At least that’s what the man who led the overthrow of the Syrian government is telling Israel as we see in a report from The Times Of Israel:

The leader of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) who spearheaded the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, spoke Saturday about Israel for the first time since taking over the country in an interview with the Syrian TV news channel.

He said that Israel doesn’t need to attack Syria anymore and that to do so isn’t good and could even cause instability in Syria:

Ahmad al-Sharaa, who is better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, said that Israel has “no more excuses” to carry out airstrikes in Syria, and that recent IDF attacks on Syrian soil have crossed red lines and threaten an unjustified escalation in the region.

As we’ve learned in previous podcasts, Israel is concerned that weapons could fall into the wrong hands if not destroyed first. Apparently Sharaa doesn’t agree:

The rebel leader called on the international community to assume its responsibility to avoid an escalation and guarantee the respect of Syrian sovereignty. Without directly mentioning Israel, he further spoke of “diplomatic solutions” as the only way to ensure security and stability and as a preferable option to “ill-considered military adventures.”

I highly doubt his concerns are justified. They are most likely a way to sound like he’s in charge and is the new leader in Syria, a leader who was trained by Isis and Al-Qaeda. He’s not the moderate he wants to make us think he is. Netanyahu however has already stated Israel’s intent:

In a video message to the new regime taking shape in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the IDF bombed military strategic capabilities left by the Syrian military of the ousted Assad regime “so that they won’t fall into the hands of the jihadists.”

He added that Israel was ready to establish relations with the new rulers but won’t hesitate to attack if they threaten the Jewish state or allow Iran to reestablish itself in Syria.

“We have no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Syria,” the premier said, “but we certainly do intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security.”

In other words, mind your p’s and q’s and it will be ok. The PM is in a trust but verify mode with Sharaa, who wants to be seen as just wanting to help Syria recover:

In his interview on Saturday, the new leader in Damascus appeared to indirectly respond to Israeli concerns and provide reassurance. Sharaa said that Syria is exhausted by years of civil war and that at this stage it will not be dragged into conflicts that may lead to further destruction, with reconstruction and stability the main priorities.

He also doesn’t want to poke the Iranian bear and seems to want to have things both ways with everyone:

The rebel commander added that the Iranian entrenchment in Syria had posed a great danger to Syria itself, to neighboring countries and the Gulf, and said: “We were able to end the Iranian presence in Syria, but we are not enemies of the Iranian people.”

He’s A Statesman Now

Sharaa wants us to believe he’s now a polished leader of the nation of Syria when all he’s ever been is rebel terrorist who is just a brutal as the Assad regime and right now he’s letting his troops slaughter Christians without saying a thing. Netanyahu knows exactly who this guy is and won’t let his brand of “leading” cross the border into northern Israel. Over the course of a wide-ranging interview, Sharaa mentioned some of the issues that his new government will soon need to address in managing post-war Syria. He stressed the importance of abandoning the “revolutionary mentality” that propelled the rebels, and the need to establish modern institutions, guarantee the rule of law and respect the rights of all Syrians.

That would be Sharia law if anyone thought otherwise. In another article, this one from The Jerusalem Post Sharra or Julani in this report wants to sound more reasonable as if we just need to forget he still has as $10 million bounty on his head from the US:

Despite dodging any provocation question about Russia, Julani said that the revolution was an "opportunity to re-evaluate the [Russian] relationship with Syria in a way that serves common interests."

Although he emphasized that the Russian air force had largely been responsible for targeting Syrian civilians during the civil war.

And about that wanting it both ways. Now he wants to be a magnanimous statesman and healer:

Julani cautioned Syria that reform and change were coming, "The Syrian revolution has triumphed, but Syria should not be led with the mentality of a revolution. There is a need for law and institutions. There is a need to transfer the mentality from the revolution to the state. The next stage is the stage of construction and stability."

Then Julani took a jab or two against the Assad government in the hopes he can make himself and his brand of terrorism look better:

"We are working to meet the basic needs of the Syrians." He described how the Assad regime had plundered Syria into poverty, "There is an abundance of food, and Assad was systematically depriving the Syrians of it. There is a real tragedy, and we have plans to address these issues until we finish collecting the data."

He accused the Assad dynasty of building a feudal tax farm designed to extract wealth from its subjects instead of supporting them. "There was a systematic destruction of the agricultural, industrial, and banking sectors. The regime did not build a state, but rather a farm, and the extent of the thefts was large. Documents will be presented to prove this."

Another way he is trying to look like the savior swooping into the save the day is to start a war on drugs:

As part of Julani's plans to "lead Syria with a statesmen's mentality," he wants to halt the production and trafficking of captagon, a drug that was massively produced under the Assad regime, as a way of getting around sanctions.

He confirmed that the new administration "will put an end to the production of captagon in Syria," which had led to accusations of Syria becoming a narco-state.

Julani must have heard the calls to stop the assaults on the Christians which was coming from his supporters:

He also reemphasized his previous commitment to protecting the minority groups of Syria; in particular, he mentioned the Christian and Druze communities who fought against Assad.

But don’t be fooled about this next part:

Julani differentiated between the Kurdish community and the PKK, a Kurdish terrorist organization, signaling the realignment of the mostly Kurdish SDF with the rest of the Syrian opposition.

Julani confirmed that the Syrian Defense Ministry would be dissolving all armed factions and that all weapons would be under the authority of the Syrian state.

By disarming those who are also wanting a part of governing, he is basically saying that only his followers can be a part of this “Syrian state” he talks about. He’s taking over and no one is fooled by his rhetoric. If the US is smart they’ll support the Kurds and make Julani work for things and to consolidate all the other groups into a cohesive and fully representative government. I don’t see it and I see Israel making sure that Julani doesn’t create his own military using what is left in Syria. And then force him to acknowledge the nation of Israel and all Jews. It will be snowing in Hades when that happens. These terrorists need to slow their roll and let the people of Syria pick who leads them. Again, I doubt they will.