What did the Israeli attack in Syria reveal?

Relations between Syria and Israel have reportedly broken down following Israel's attack on the Abu al-Duhur Airbase in Syria on August 18. Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shaibani announced after the attack that communication with Israel had been severed. He stated, "We expect negotiations regarding a security agreement with Israel to resume in the near future. We do not trust Israel at the moment. Our priority is to stop the attacks on our territory." 

Al-Shaibani's desperation is reflected in his words. 

The government in Damascus took office after Assad with the support of the US and Israel. Therefore, the US and Israel are the true decisive powers in Damascus. For this reason, the regime in Damascus does not seek its rights in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It has practically swallowed this occupation and dropped it from the agenda. As soon as it came to power in Damascus, it pledged its loyalty to the US. It said, "We will not create a security problem for Israel. We will also prevent anyone who attempts to do so." It thought it could establish a healthy relationship with Israel, which is governed by Netanyahu—a murderer guilty of genocide and war crimes—by making concessions. It was mistaken.  

Because Israel currently controls a significant portion of Syria. It is establishing bases in Syria. It bombs whenever it wants. It rolls its tanks. 

Likewise, the Israeli-backed PYD-YPG terrorist organization controls an area far beyond its power, and one rich in energy resources, thanks to US and Israeli support. It extracts political, military, and administrative concessions from the Damascus administration far beyond its actual strength, thanks to US and Israeli support. 

We see that the disappearance of Iranian and Russian influence in Syria and its replacement by US and Israeli influence has made some in our country very happy. The reality that these happy segments do not see, do not want to see, or cannot accept even if they do see it, is this: The US wants an order in the Middle East where Israel comes to the fore, increases its influence, makes its voice heard, and where Turkey does not oppose this at all, but on the contrary, adapts to it. To persuade Turkey to accept this, the US is using the many and varied trump cards and tools at its disposal. 

We recall that the US had brought Arab countries to a certain point on this issue with the Abraham Accords. The process was to result in Saudi Arabia and Israel making their de facto closeness open and official. This process has not ended. It has been put on the back burner for now. In the background, the US is conducting intense diplomatic traffic with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. Once the Middle East, the Islamic world, and the Arab world are accustomed to the current situation in Gaza, and after the oppressed, sad, and victimized Palestinian people are driven from their homeland, the subject will be taken off the back burner. 

We know that the Zionist mentality in Israel did not attack the imperialist US, then Iran, and then the Iran-backed axis of resistance, the Shiite crescent, and proxy forces. It did the opposite. It first attacked Syria, Hamas in Palestine, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. After breaking their influence, it attacked Iran. The regime in Syria resisted more than expected; 13 years and 8 months. As a result of the civil war that began in March 2011, Assad was overthrown and took refuge in Moscow. 

When the 61-year Ba'ath rule in Syria and the 53-year Assad rule within this scope ended in December 2024, the new regime in Damascus immediately pledged its loyalty to the US, Israel, and the Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, that supported it. It declared that it would set a barrier in front of Iran, would not raise the slightest objection to Israel, and would do everything the US said. 

A large segment in Turkey that welcomed this situation began to say immediately, in the name of religious and sectarian brotherhood, that this situation was in Turkey's favor. How wrong this approach was became apparent in a short time. 

How was it seen? 

It was seen with Israel immediately starting work for a Syria divided into four (Druze, Kurdish, Alawite, Arab). It was seen with the fact that the US-Israel duo, as in the examples of Lebanon and Iraq, sooner or later wants to divide Syria along religious, sectarian, and ethnic lines (the distribution in Syria is roughly as follows: 70 percent Sunni Arab, 10 percent Nusayri, 10 percent Kurdish, 5 percent Christian, 5 percent Druze and Turkmen) being revealed once again. 

It was seen with the PYD-YPG terrorist organization being allowed to maintain its existence by being persuaded to settle for a smaller area than it wanted, even if it did not get exactly what it wanted in Syria, through the fulfillment of some of its political, military, and administrative demands with US-Israeli support. 

It was seen with Iran not surrendering and resisting in the face of US-Israeli aggression, despite being very tired and worn out. It was seen with the US-Israel duo failing to reach their political and military goals in Iran. It was seen with the realization once again that Iran possesses a state tradition, national consciousness, and armed power that is strong and deep-rooted, incomparable to Libya, Iraq, or Syria.