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Source: http://carnegie-mec.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=53831
Israel and the Syrian War
(Carnegie Middle East Center) Interview with Eyal Zisser - The Syrian regime managed to survive the last long three years of the Syrian civil war. It is bleeding, but at the same time the rebels have their own problems and limitations, and they cannot decide the battle. After the Russian-American agreement in September 2013 on eliminating Syria's chemical weapons, the regime is in a much better position than before. It is in the interest of Israel that Assad be strong enough to keep the border quiet but weak enough so he will not present any real threat to Israel. There are also those in Israel who think that in the long run, it's better to get rid of Assad. They think that what matters is the Iranian-Hizbullah issue and that the collapse of Assad would deal a severe blow to the axis of evil. Prof. Eyal Zisser is former director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.