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Source: https://jcpa.org/is-the-west-trying-to-whitewash-syrias-president-ahmad-al-sharaa/
Israel Is Watching Syria's Welcome in the West with Concern
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Yoni Ben Menachem - The visit of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House marks American willingness to pursue cautious cooperation in exchange for Syrian commitments on regional security, counterterrorism, and shaping the postwar balance of power in the Middle East. However, in recent weeks, large quantities of Iranian weapons have been transferred through Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon without any effort by al-Sharaa's regime to stop them. According to senior Israeli security officials, al-Sharaa's new regime is weak and lacks the power to control Syria or impose order on the militias and Bedouin tribes. Syria's minorities - Kurds, Druze, Alawites, and Christians - oppose his fundamentalist religious rule, especially after recent massacres against Alawites and Druze. Security officials fear that al-Sharaa is deceiving the West, that he is a "terrorist in a suit" who intends to establish an extreme dictatorship and eventually unleash jihadist terror at a time of his choosing. Even Russia and China remain cautious and condition their cooperation on al-Sharaa dismantling the thousands of jihadist fighters loyal to him who helped bring him to power.