Senior Israeli official: ‘Syria is making serious mistakes, peace talks will depend on regime’s behavior’

Amid Israel’s strikes on Syria in response to recent violence against the Druze community, the likelihood of Jerusalem reaching a peace agreement with the new Syrian government “depends on how the regime behaves,” says a senior Israeli official.

“Everything depends on how this regime behaves. There’s no doubt things have taken a negative turn in the past few days, after a brief period of calm. But we’re not deluding ourselves,” says the official.

“Our policy isn’t based on illusions — it’s based on reality. First and foremost, we want security, and we’re clear with the other side about what we expect,” the official adds.

“Syria is making serious mistakes. The legitimacy their regime recently received may be distorting their sense of reality….they would do well to wake up. This country has been torn apart from within for years, with external help, through endless war and bloodshed. What’s happening now is not helping them get to a better place,” the official continues.

The official says that Damascus’s posture toward European and foreign actors doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground in Syria: “When this regime first came to power, they spoke nicely — people said ‘look, they’re talking’….They know exactly what the Europeans want to hear, and they deliver. But there’s a huge gap between their rhetoric abroad and their actions at home.”

“In the end, we deliver messages that reflect these truths. Of course, we would prefer these events hadn’t happened, but we can’t ignore them. As neighbors, we cannot ignore them. That’s it,” says the official.

Regarding whether Israel would consider sending troops further into Syrian territory in defense of the Druze, the official says, “There are two methods — one is to threaten all day long, the other is to act without talking,” before adding that Israel “is not in favor of inflating this issue.”

The official adds: “The Americans — and not only they — have been involved in efforts to de-escalate the situation since two days ago. We have a positive dialogue with them.”

The official’s remarks came shortly before US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Washington is “very concerned” by the violence in Syria.

“We want the fighting to stop,” Rubio said, adding that the US is in contact with relevant parties to try and deescalate, and that “Hopefully we’ll have some updates later today.”