Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s leadership is concerned about what  the defeat of Sunni rebels by Syrian President Bashar
Assad would mean.

Officials said Israel’s intelligence community was closely following the
Assad offensive against Sunni rebels in the spring of 2013. They said the
community envisioned that a victorious Assad could be emboldened to launch
hostilities against Israel in coordination with Iran and Hizbullah.

“Assad is not going to sit quietly if he wins,” an official said. “He
will take revenge against anybody he feels helped the rebels, and he could
attack us to restore his radical credentials.”

Officials said the community was stunned by the rapid advance of Assad’s
military, backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hizbullah. They said the offensive marked a significant improvement in the capabilities of the Syrian military as well as its coordination with foreign allies.

“If they [Assad forces] continue at this rate, they can wrap up the war
within a few weeks, and leave the north for a later stage,” the official
said.

The community has assessed that the war cemented the coordination
between Assad, IRGC and Hizbullah. Officials said Israel’s military and
intelligence agencies did not rule out that Iran and Syria would form
permanent joint units for war against Israel or Jordan.

On June 6, a Syrian parliamentarian regarded as close to Assad warned
that Damascus was ready for war with Israel. Ahmed Shalash said the Syrian
military has been ordered to fire missiles the next time Israeli warplanes
enters Syrian air space.

“The next time Israel dares to violate Syrian air space, there are
orders to retaliate with missile fire without referring back to the
leadership,” Shalash was quoted as saying by the Saudi-owned Al
Arabiya satellite channel. “They want an open war — let there be an open
war. We don’t have a problem with that.”

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has sought to assuage concerns
over an Assad victory. Ya’alon, a former military chief of staff, said that
as of early June, the Assad regime was in control of no more than 40 percent
of Syria.

But other officials sounded less sanguine. They said the rebels were
collapsing amid a short of equipment, weapons and feuds among commanders.

“Those fighting against Assad are mostly foreigners, paid by Qatar and
Saudi Arabia,” another official said. “There is not much left of the
indigenous rebel movement.”

  Ahmed Shalash, Islamic Revoutionary Guard Corps, Moshe Ya’alon, Surge by Iran-Hizbullah-Syria axis stuns Israeli intelligence community