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‘Israel Doesn’t Want a Stable Syria’: The Media Uses Upheaval to Falsely Slander Israel
Rebel fighters holds weapons at the Citadel of Aleppo, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
The Independent’s world affairs editor, Sam Kiley, has a long history of reporting from the Middle East for several mainstream media outlets including CNN, Sky News, and London’s Evening Standard. Despite presenting himself as something of an expert, his flawed judgment was most famously on display in 2002, when Kiley conjured up witnesses to speak of Israel’s “staggering brutality and callous murder” in Jenin when the media libeled Israel for a massacre that never was.
Taking on the dramatic fall of the Assad regime in Syria for The Independent, Kiley’s analysis includes the following:
Israel doesn’t want a stable Syria, as the Jewish state has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967, and captured more in 1973. It won’t ever allow Damascus to return to the eastern banks of the Sea of Galilee.
Israel “doesn’t want a stable Syria.”
Really?
History and common sense suggest otherwise.
1. While the Golan Heights has suffered rocket attacks, including the deadly attack that killed 12 children in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in July 2024, that rocket was fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon. Israel’s border with Syria has actually been one of its quietest over many decades with any security incidents few and far between — stability that has benefited Israel.
2. In the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel and Syria signed the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement, which until now has been the longest successful continuous agreement Israel has ever had with an Arab country. That Israel has reacted to the end of the Assad regime by moving forces into the buffer zone to temporarily secure the area of the Syrian Golan where the Syrian Army has fled is a testament to the stability that the agreement brought for some five decades.
3. When it comes to Bashar al-Assad, for Israeli policymakers, Assad may be the better devil you know. Granted, Assad was a despicable dictator, but he was a known and relatively predictable actor whose primary interest in recent years was his regime’s survival. With Assad gone, Israel is faced with chaos in Syria and a potential takeover by hostile jihadist groups. While Islamist rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has attempted to portray himself and his forces as relative moderates, footage of a rebel spokesman surrounded by gunmen stating, “From here to Jerusalem. We’re coming for Jerusalem. Patience, people of Gaza, patience,” illustrates the potential dangers from Syria’s new rulers. Israel certainly does not benefit from the instability in Syria.
But then maybe Kiley’s interpretation is based on his own prejudices when it comes to the Jewish state.
He stresses that Israel captured more of the Golan Heights in 1973. What he doesn’t mention is that, as part of the aforementioned Agreement on Disengagement, Israel returned all of that extra territory — an inconvenient truth that doesn’t fit with Kiley’s portrayal of Israel as an aggressive colonizer.
There’s a reason Israel has annexed the Golan Heights and it’s not the land grab that Kiley implies. Prior to 1967, the strategic plateau that sits some 8,700 feet above Israel allowed Syria to dominate Israel’s northernmost communities. Syrian artillery fire regularly plagued northern Israel, and intermittent hostilities broke out, with both sides making incursions into the other’s territory.
Syrian forces regularly attacked Israeli farmers. Between 1950 and 1967, approximately 370 Israelis were hit by Syrian fire, with 121 killed.
After taking the territory in the defensive Six-Day War, the height advantage and strategic location afforded by the Golan Heights ensured that the territory could no longer be used to fire on northern Israel. This is why there is almost wall-to-wall opposition to giving the territory to Syria — whether it is governed by a dictator like Bashar al-Assad or jihadists who could potentially allow extremist groups to build terror infrastructure on Israel’s border in the same way that Hamas and Hezbollah did from Gaza and Lebanon respectively.
Ultimately, Sam Kiley’s “analysis” is both flawed and prejudiced. When it comes to Israel, for a world affairs editor, Kiley appears to have a loose grip on world affairs.
The author is the Editorial Director of 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 ‘Israel Doesn’t Want a Stable Syria’: The Media Uses Upheaval to Falsely Slander Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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President Trump’s Passover Greetings: a Message of Solidarity with the Jewish Community
US President Donald speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on March 3, 2025. Photo: Leah Millis via Reuters Connect
i24 News – President Donald Trump extended heartfelt Passover greetings this week to Jewish communities in the United States, Israel, and around the world, delivering a message that emphasized faith, freedom, and solidarity.
In a speech from the White House, the former president reflected on the significance of Passover, a cornerstone of Jewish tradition commemorating the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and their long journey to the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses.
“To all Jewish families gathering with friends and loved ones this week, Happy Passover,” Trump said. He highlighted how the story of Passover reflects “the enduring power” of the Jewish faith and “the importance of placing our pride in God, no matter the circumstance.”
The president’s remarks were not only a nod to the spiritual depth of the holiday but also a reaffirmation of his administration’s close ties to the State of Israel. He concluded his message with a blessing for the Jewish community, for Israel, and for the United States.
Trump’s Passover address continues the longstanding tradition of American presidents acknowledging and honoring major religious observances, underscoring the value of religious freedom and the diversity that defines the American spirit.
The post President Trump’s Passover Greetings: a Message of Solidarity with the Jewish Community first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Dismantles Nearly 1-Mile-Long Underground Tunnel in Northern Gaza
Illustrative. A Hamas attack tunnel discovered near the Israel-Gaza border on July 8, 2019. Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Office.
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the destruction of a significant underground tunnel route in northern Gaza, stretching approximately 1.2 kilometers long and reaching a depth of about 20 meters.
The operation was carried out by the Northern Brigade’s combat team under the command of the IDF’s 252nd Division.
As part of ongoing military operations in the region, combat engineers from the elite Yahalom unit located and neutralized the tunnel, which posed a potential threat to Israeli forces operating in the area.
Near the tunnel, soldiers discovered a weapons cache containing around 20 explosive devices, an anti-tank missile launcher, and additional weaponry believed to have been prepared for use against IDF troops.
During the mission, an IDF drone identified several militants planting an explosive device near Israeli forces. In a rapid response, an Israeli Air Force aircraft conducted a targeted strike, eliminating the threat.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit says that the Israeli military continues to carry out operations across the Gaza Strip aimed at dismantling terrorist infrastructure and preventing future attacks on Israeli territory.
The post IDF Dismantles Nearly 1-Mile-Long Underground Tunnel in Northern Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Saudi Arabia, US Advance Civil Nuclear Deal, Sidestepping Israeli Normalization
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the 45th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Kuwait city, Kuwait, Dec. 1, 2024. Photo: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – The United States and Saudi Arabia are moving toward a landmark agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, signaling a deepening energy partnership that notably excludes any linkage to Saudi normalization with Israel.
According to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the two countries are nearing a preliminary accord aimed at developing a Saudi civil nuclear program.
Wright, during his first official visit to Riyadh as energy secretary, stated that the two sides are “on the right track” and that further details on the agreement would be disclosed later this year.
The prospective deal represents a significant shift from the Biden administration’s earlier strategy, which sought to tie such an agreement to a broader geopolitical goal: normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. That condition now appears to have been dropped, with the current negotiations focused solely on energy collaboration.
“For a US partnership in the nuclear field here, there will definitely be a 123-type agreement,” Wright told reporters, referencing Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Such agreements are legally required for the US to export nuclear technology and materials to other countries.
However, key hurdles remain—chief among them, US nonproliferation standards. According to Wright, Saudi Arabia has yet to agree to restrictions that would prevent uranium enrichment or the reprocessing of spent fuel, two technologies that can be used in the development of nuclear weapons.
This reluctance raises alarms in Washington and beyond. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has publicly stated that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would pursue the same path. That position, combined with the Kingdom’s resistance to strict nonproliferation terms, is heightening concerns among arms control experts and some members of the US Congress.
While the agreement is still in the preliminary stages, it is a key energy alliance in the Gulf while managing nuclear risks in a volatile region.
The memorandum is expected to be finalized later this year. Until then, the world will be watching closely to see whether this deal sets a new precedent for US nuclear partnerships—or reopens a heated debate on nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
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