While jihadist groups have seen their fortunes rise amid the chaos in Syria, Hizbullah, which joined the war to support its long-time patron Assad, has seen high casualty rates and shrinking support in the Arab world due to its participation.
“No doubt that Hizbullah has suffered a number of setbacks, not only on the military side but also on the political and moral side,” said Yadlin.
“Hizbullah used to be the hero of the Arab street, [viewed as] an organization that fought with Israel successfully and defended Lebanon. Now everybody sees that they are a proxy of Iran and partners with Assad, who is butchering his own people.”
The Syrian civil war has become one of the most pressing humanitarian disasters of the early 21st century, said Yadlin. “It is an unacceptable fact that in the 21st century, 20 years after Rwanda and Serbia, we have something very similar to a genocide once again. The world is basically doing nothing.”
From a strictly military point of view, he said, Israel “in a way finds itself strategically benefiting from the situation in Syria, even though morally we are very unhappy to see it.”
(JNS)
