General: Israel Prepared to Attack Syria If Assad Falls

Israel Threatens Assad, and Also Whoever Might Replace Him

Israeli officials have been making much of their plans to launch additional attacks against Syria’s Assad government, but that doesn’t mean that they’re any more keen on whoever might replace him.

Israeli Major General Amir Eshel, the head of the nation’s air force, says Israel is also planning to attack Syria the moment Assad’s government falls, warning that the war could be sudden, happening “at a few hours’ notice.”

Israel has couched their attacks against Assad’s government around putative arms transfers to Hezbollah, and say that the Israeli military is prepared to exert the “full spectrum of its might” against post-Assad Syria. Unlike the current attacks, which are seemingly random and don’t go anywhere, Eshel says Israelis should prepare for a “protracted” war with post-Assad Syria.

Of course, Israeli military leaders are always talking up protracted and bloody wars with any number of their neighbors, but the timing of the comments suggest that Israel is comfortable with its current line of attacks on Syria and unwilling to let regime change get in the way.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.