Israel Matzav

Dagan: Regime change in Syria would harm Hezbullah

As some of you probably figured out already, I came home from evening prayers last night and crashed completely. That might be attributable to insufficient caffeine - at NIS 14 per cup (about $4), I didn't drink a whole lot of coffee during the conference on Wednesday.

Former Mossad director Meir Dagan told a Netanya college degree ceremony on Tuesday that the fall of Bashar al-Assad would harm Hezbullah (Hat Tip: Daily Alert).

"Difficult times are destabilizing regimes all around us. They have received labels such as 'Arab Spring' and 'Democratic Tsunami', but I would recommend not making too much of labels and definitions because a deeper look reveals rifts and conflicts that existed before and which have been swept under the rug, but are now bursting out in the form of protests and in many places purposeful violence," he said.

But Dagan also allowed for a sliver of optimism, saying that Sunnis may replace the current Alawite regime in Syria.

"They may not be lovers of Israel, but there is no doubt this would harm Hezbollah, weaken it, harm the strategic backing it receives from Syria, minimize the Iranian influence in the field, increase influence by Saudi Arabia and Gulf States on it, and increase chances it will open up to the West," Dagan said.

He added that the Iranian nuclear threat is not only a threat to Israel. "It is a central challenge for states that reside along the Persian Gulf, the free world, and the US," he told a Netanya College ceremony.

I suppose that we are all fortunate that the Sunnis hate the Shi'a - and vice versa - nearly as much as they hate Jews and Christians.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Hezbullah, Meir Dagan, Syria, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:55 AM