An Israeli tank crosses the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli Golan Heights, Dec. 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a turning point in the decades-long Syrian civil war, has set the stage for a drastically different Middle East. While many see Assad’s defeat as a blow to Iranian influence and a big win for Israel, the reality is far more complex and disheartening.

For years, Assad’s regime was a predictable enemy of Israel. While it engaged in occasional attacks and supported groups like Hezbollah, Assad carefully avoided provoking full-scale conflict with the Jewish State. His regime maintained a level of control over Syrian territory, limiting the ability of extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda to operate freely. This control allowed for relative stability on Israel’s northern border.

The rebel group now dominating Syria risks replacing the predictable relationships under Assad with widespread chaos. This shift introduces not just unpredictability but also direct security threats for Israel, undermining the assumption that Assad’s downfall is a victory for the Jewish State.

With Assad’s downfall, the country is no longer a singular nation but a fractured region with competing Islamist groups, many of which harbor deep animosity toward Israel. The most prominent group to emerge is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), currently designated as a terrorist organization, rooted in Al-Qaeda’s ideology.

HTS, founded initially as Jabhat al-Nusra in 2012, became Al-Qaeda’s official partner in Syria before later distancing itself from the group to broaden its appeal. Many argue, however, that its leadership and ideology remain firmly tied to Al-Qaeda’s global jihadist movement.

By 2022, HTS had control over significant parts of Syria’s northwest, particularly in the Idlib province, with a fighting force estimated at over 30,000.

HTS has made no secret of its hostility toward Israel. Recently, its leadership has issued repeated threats, calling for the liberation of Jerusalem and vowing to target Israeli territory. While the group’s primary focus remains on consolidating power in Syria, its anti-Israel rhetoric raises concerns about future confrontations, significantly as the group expands its presence near the Golan Heights.

Under Assad, terrorist activity from Syria into Israel was minimal due to the regime’s tight border control. However, the current disorganization in Syria has opened opportunities for groups like Al-Qaeda to exploit the instability.

In 2023 alone, Israeli forces intercepted at least two smuggling attempts involving weapons and explosives along the Syrian border, underscoring the growing threat.

HTS’ takeover of Syria raises the likelihood of increased cross-border violence.

The Jordanian military, which has successfully conducted counterterrorism operations against ISIS and other extremist factions, now faces the challenge of monitoring an increasingly unstable border with Syria. A 2022 report by the Jordanian Armed Forces highlighted a surge in smuggling incidents along the Syrian border, many involving drugs and weapons trafficked by groups like the HTS.

For Israel, a destabilized Jordan is a matter of significant concern. Jordan remains one of Israel’s most cooperative neighbors, with both nations sharing a peace treaty since 1994. If HTS succeeds in undermining Jordan’s security, it could disrupt this vital alliance and force Israel to reallocate military resources, further straining its defense capabilities amid rising threats on other fronts.

The United States has adopted a cautious approach to Syria. The absence of the US has left Israel alone in managing the results of Syria’s collapse, forcing it to rely on military actions like airstrikes against military targets within Syria. These strikes, while effective in the short term, risk escalating tensions and drawing Israel into broader conflicts.

Despite the challenges, the fragmentation of Syria does offer some short-term advantages for Israel. Traditional adversaries, like Hezbollah, have been weakened. Yet, these gains are unlikely to last; the rise of extremist groups like HTS poses a long-term danger that could surpass the challenges presented by Assad’s regime.

The collapse of Assad’s regime marks the end of an era but does not guarantee stability or security for Israel. Instead, it brings in a period of heightened uncertainty, where new threats emerge. While Israel may not face immediate danger from the new Syrian regime, there is a serious potential for future conflict.

Israel’s challenge is to adapt swiftly to this new reality, reorganizing its military and diplomatic strategies to address both immediate risks and long-term threats. As the region reshapes itself, support for Israel will be crucial in ensuring its security and maintaining this pillar of democracy in an increasingly radicalized Middle East.

The post The Fall of Assad: Israel’s Fragile Advantage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A flag is flown during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, outside the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Throughout the current Israel-Hamas war, HonestReporting has exposed ties between employees of mainstream media organizations and the terrorist rulers of the Gaza Strip.

From freelancers who crossed into southern Israel with Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre, to Palestinian journalists who were honored by Hamas for their collaborative work with the Hamas Government Media Office, there is strong evidence for Hamas’ control and manipulation of the narratives that emerge from the Gaza Strip. This biased messaging helps shape the way that the conflict is reported on around the world.

However, it is not only local Gazan journalists whose work falls under the tyrannical thumb of Hamas.

Throughout its 17 years of control over Gaza, Hamas has also wielded its violent power to censor the reports of foreign journalists and ensure that only news sanctioned by the internationally recognized terror group sees the light of day.

 

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Operation Protective Edge (2014)

There is no better example of this suppression of press freedom than the media guidelines that were released by Hamas during Operation Protective Edge (which occurred from July through August 2014).

According to an August 2014 report released by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Information Center, both the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior and the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Journalist Bloc released guidelines during the early days of the Operation on how social media users and traditional media personnel located in Gaza should report on the ongoing conflict.

A key instruction by Hamas was to never publish information about or share photos of rockets, so as not to publicize the proximity of rocket launchers to densely populated civilian areas.

Other regulations that Hamas set out for social media users during Operation Protective Edge included the requirement to refer to all killed Gazans as “innocent” (no matter what their involvement was), to never share an up-close photograph of Hamas members, and to describe all Hamas activity as being in response to Israeli actions.

The regulations and their enforcement by Hamas were so severe that even the Foreign Press Association in Israel was forced to release a statement on August 11, 2014, condemning the “blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox methods employed by the Hamas authorities and their representatives against visiting international journalists in Gaza over the past month.”

According to the Meir Amit Center, by controlling the information coming out of Gaza during the early days of the Operation, Hamas was able to craft a narrative of Israel as an aggressor and the people of Gaza as victims of the Jewish State’s wrath.

However, as the Center notes, there were a number of instances where foreign journalists in Gaza did acknowledge the close proximity of rocket launchers to civilian areas. In some cases, these journalists only publicized their experience once they had left the Gaza Strip (and were outside Hamas’ realm), while others were forced to leave the Strip soon after issuing their reports.

Hamas Issues Strict Rules for Journalists

Operation Protective Edge was not the only time that Hamas sought to wield its coercive power over journalists in the Gaza Strip.

In August 2022, one year after heavy fighting between the IDF and Hamas during Operation Guardian of the Walls, it was reported that Hamas had issued strict rules for Palestinians working with foreign media outlets, including orders not to report on Palestinians killed by errant Hamas rockets, and to blame Israel for hostilities in their reports.

As The Times of Israel reported at the time, these regulations were reversed after an outcry from representatives of foreign media outlets. However, as the media outlet noted:

The rules would have gone much further than existing Hamas restrictions. They appeared aimed at imposing the Islamic group’s narrative on media coverage of the conflict by implicitly threatening Palestinian reporters and translators who live under its heavy-handed rule.

Even if the rules are officially withdrawn, Hamas has still signaled its expectations, which could have a chilling effect on critical coverage, AP reported.

Hamas Sells Its Narrative

Aside from the aforementioned ties between Gazan freelancers and Hamas, as well as the threatening and abuse of journalists who are critical of its terror regime, another way that Hamas has sought to craft the public perception of its current war with Israel is by attempting to sell its narrative to the West, particularly through mainstream media organizations.

In January 2024, the Hamas Media Office published a booklet entitled “Our Narrative … Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.” This document, which sought to justify and contextualize the terror group’s October 7 attack against southern Israel, was released in both Arabic and English. The publication of a Hamas document in both languages was unusual, and shows how the group is intent on not only influencing Arab public opinion, but also the opinion of those residing in the West.

“Our Narrative” is a masterpiece of propaganda and misinformation, replete with claims such as:

• Hamas was only attacking military sites and never attacks civilians;
• Many of the victims were killed by Israel and not Hamas;
• This “battle” started 105 years ago, and Hamas was backed into a corner and forced to attack Israel.

Despite being among the key targets of Hamas’ information campaign, most mainstream media outlets ignored its publication at the time.

However, both Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Voice of America (VOA) fell for Hamas’ propaganda machine, and publicized the terror group’s baseless claims, ultimately giving Hamas an air of legitimacy and spreading its extremism to an international audience.

In retrospect, however, given the prevalence of sources branding Hamas as a “national liberation” group, battling “colonialism,” it’s clear that the Hamas narrative has found a receptive audience in too many places.

The Hamas document even called for an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation, preempting the arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Another more subtle way that Hamas cultivates the narrative around the ongoing war with Israel is by releasing unsubstantiated casualty figures as fact under the guise of the Gaza Ministry of Health, which seeks to portray Israel as an aggressor intent on destroying all of Gaza’s Palestinian residents, not just the terrorists embedded within it.

When mainstream media organizations republish these figures, they are helping to spread Hamas propaganda around the world.

Hamas inflates the Gaza death toll, and the media buys it. Here’s how they twist the numbers to mislead the world. pic.twitter.com/xemTDOAlET

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 15, 2024

Over its 17-year reign in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has sought to manipulate the way that local Palestinians and foreign journalists report on hostilities with the IDF, seeking to control the narrative and sway the minds of uninformed audiences around the world.

Through Hamas’ issuance of constricting media guidelines in 2014 and 2022, its use of violence against opposition journalists, the recently unearthed evidence of collaboration by certain Palestinian freelancers with the terror group, and its propaganda campaigns focused on influencing mainstream media outlets, it is clear that any news emerging from Gaza must be treated with a critical eye and not taken at face value.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post How Hamas Manipulates the Media and Controls the Narrative About Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The “Hanukkah Forever” postage stamp is unveiled at Temple Emanu El in Orange Village, Ohio, on Oct. 20, 2022. Second from left is designer Jeanette Kuvin Oren. Credit: Courtesy Jeanette Kuvin Oren.

Hanukkah, celebrated annually on the 25th of Kislev, preserves the historical memory of the dramatic events of 164 BCE. That year, Judah the Maccabee purified the Temple and restored Jewish worship to the center of the national life.

However, the holiday did not mark the end of our struggle for independence — but rather one of its early high points. In reality, the journey to full Jewish independence required another 20 years of fighting and diplomacy. During this time, Judah the Maccabee fell in battle, but not before forging a historic alliance with Rome.

Ultimate independence was achieved by Judah’s brother, Simon, in 142 BCE. Simon not only secured the independence of Judea, but also established the illustrious Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled the Jewish kingdom for 79 years.

The peak of the Hasmonean reign occurred during the rule of Queen Alexandra (Shlomtzion), whose era brought relative cultural and economic prosperity to the kingdom. However, this prosperity was short-lived. After her death, a bloody succession war erupted between her sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, and their supporters. This fratricidal conflict marked the swan song of the Hasmonean kingdom, culminating in Roman intervention and the end of Judea’s independence in 63 BCE.

Hanukkah is not just a story of liberation from foreign oppression; it is also a lesson in internal unity and a warning against domestic divisions. During the Hasmonean period, civil strife tore the nation apart from within, providing the Romans with an opportunity to seize control of the kingdom.

Similarly, today, the State of Israel, celebrating 76 years of independence, faces challenges that threaten its internal cohesion.

For example, the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF raises questions about equality in sharing the burden and the balance between religion and state. Judicial reform debates spark contentious arguments about the character of Israeli democracy versus its judicial system. Settlements and disagreements over the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the events of October 7th further strain the public sphere.

Yet the October 7th tragedy also underscored the necessity of unity. These events exposed our vulnerabilities but also our strength as a nation, when we awaken to the dangers of internal divisions and the need to stand united against external threats.

Hanukkah is not merely a historical memory; it is a warning sign and a call to action. It reminds us that our independence should never be taken for granted, and that internal threats can be as dangerous as external enemies.

From the Hasmonean struggles, we learned that prosperity and national security depend on unity. The era of Queen Alexandra demonstrated the achievements possible through cooperation, while the civil war that followed illustrated the destructive power of division.

Today, as we face challenges from within and without, we must remember this lesson. The events of October 7th sharpened the focus on the need for national unity in confronting our enemies. If we fail to learn from history, we risk repeating its mistakes. We must set aside our differences and remember our shared goal: preserving the national home for us all.

May we draw wisdom from the past, strengthen the bonds between the diverse segments of our society, and work together for a better and safer future. Like the Hasmoneans, may we continue building our state with faith, hope, and love. Wishing all of Israel a joyous Hanukkah, and may we always remain one victorious family.

Itamar Tzur is an Israeli scholar and Middle East expert who holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Jewish History and a Master’s degree with honors in Middle Eastern Studies. As a senior member of the “Forum Kedem for Middle Eastern Studies and Public Diplomacy”. Tzur leverages his academic expertise to enhance understanding of regional dynamics and historical contexts within the Middle East.

The post A Hanukkah Lesson for Modern-Day Israel: Internal Divisions Can Destroy Our State first appeared on Algemeiner.com.