SYRIA – Assad´s allies look to their laurels as Syrian war fades

Image Credit: Creative Commons

This time last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel and Russia had agreed to cooperate on withdrawing foreign forces from Syria. If confirmed, it would mean that Russia has agreed to force the Iranians out of Syria, a significant development for both Israel and the war itself, made even more critical, with the looming talks between Turkey, Iran and Russia to find a settlement.

Russia has yet to confirm or deny Israel´s position but it seems highly unlikely that Israel would commit such a school boy error. Israel wants Iran out of Syria, but it also wants accommodation with Russia. And the two countries have already shown some degree of cooperation in their Syrian operations. Israel has likely provided Russia with advance notice of its airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria, and so far, Russia has not blocked or notified the Iranians about the strikes.