Unlike some of the other uprisings and regime changes in the Middle East, Israel is rather comfortable with the prospect of regime change in Syria. Some Israeli officials reject concerns about an Islamist takeover post-Assad or increased instability close to their borders. A region free of the Shiite Assad regime would undercut two of Israel’s primary enemies: Hezbollah and Iran.
As Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said recently, Assad’s ouster could be good for Israel by creating “a fissure in the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut-Hamas axis of evil”.
