Illustrative image. (Syrian Ministry of Defense)
Israel’s defense establishment has detected an acceleration in Syria’s efforts to rebuild its air force, Kan News reported on August 10.
On the day the report came out, a pair of Syrian Soviet-made Su-22 fighter bombers, which were recently brought back to service, was spotted flying over the north and center of the country. The development came one year and eight months after the collapse of the regime of former president Bashar al-Asad and the Israeli military’s declaration that it had destroyed the Syrian air force.
According to Kan News, Israeli officials have recently identified Syrian efforts to recruit new pilots and conduct training using trainer aircraft and helicopters.
The report noted that despite ongoing discussions over a potential future security agreement between Syria and Israel, the Israeli defense establishment is closely monitoring developments that could threaten Israel’s freedom of action in Syrian airspace.
“We are monitoring developments in Syria and sharing our concerns with the United States,” an Israeli security official told Kan News.
Israel is clearly alarmed by Syria’s efforts to rebuilt its military, but the concern runs even deeper, according to other recent Hebrew media reports.
Two separate reports published on August 11 by Kan News and Channel 12 revealed that Israel suspects that two Arab states are plotting to attack it by lulling its leadership into a false sense of security through fake agreements.
According to the reports, the two countries would sign diplomatic agreements with Israel to “anesthetize” the state and remove any unwanted scrutiny.
They would then be free to plan a major attack on Israel and launch it at a time of their choosing, having pulled the wool over Jerusalem’s eyes, the reports claimed.
Channel 12 said officials from one of the Arab states approached their counterparts in the other about the idea and encouraged it to join forces.
The alleged plot appears to be modeled on the October 7, 2023, attack, Kan News reported, but would be on an even larger scale. The Palestinian Hamas Movement launched the deadly attack from the Gaza Strip after years of working to fool Israel into thinking it no longer desired armed conflict.
The reports don’t name the Arab states involved, but Syria is almost certainly one of them. Since Egypt and Jordan already have peace agreements with Israel, the other state is likely Iraq, though Lebanon is also possible, if less likely.
Syria may indeed be playing a double game. Its new government has clear reasons to pursue some agreement with Israel — sanctions relief, international legitimacy and fewer Israeli strikes — while using that same deal as cover for quiet military rebuilding.
The timing backs this up. Attempts to rebuild the Syrian air force are moving forward alongside diplomatic talks, not instead of them.
In addition, the new government’s Islamist roots likely add to Israel’s doubts about its long-term intentions. The Hamas precedent reinforces the pattern. Years of projected moderation once masked real preparation for war, and a weaker state facing a stronger adversary has clear incentive to follow the same path.
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i would be happy if israel cut off a large chunk of territory from syria. that damascus will be part of israel again. then all the biggest crooks from the us and the eu move into this settlement. afd brothers of italy and dumps maga. they to stop dividing european and american people and be far away in damascus and the golan. that’s where the genocidal religion and race began and let it go there and leave us alone
i want maga and afd and the brothers of italy with their zionism to move to damascus so that we can be saved from them, because polytheism was worshipped on our territory, not genocide and religious war. then it will be clear to everyone that moroccans cannot go to spain because they would drown. all eu and us people would be friends if all maga, brothers of italy and afd were evicted to the golan. the poison of hatred would be extinguished and people would finally be happy.
fake agreements like diaper don did with iran