Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar Takes a Dim View of Syria’s New Rulers

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has given us a tour d’horizon of Israeli policy, and how he now sees the region and the world, here.

Sa’ar was frank about the challenges surrounding humanitarian aid in Gaza, particularly Hamas’s exploitation of these resources. “This is a complicated issue. It’s being used as a weapon to attack Israel,” he said. “The bigger problem isn’t the humanitarian aid itself but the fact that Hamas takes over and loots the aid.”…

Israel has to keep hammering at that point: the humanitarian aid is going into Gaza, lots of it, more than 1.1 million tons since October 2023. It is what happens to the aid once it is inside Gaza that is the problem, and it is not of Israel’s making. Hamas is stealing much of that aid — food and medicine — for its own members and their extended families. And another part of that aid is seized by Hamas for sale at exaggerated prices to the ordinary people of Gaza who were intended to receive that aid from foreign donors for free.

Sa’ar also highlighted potential shifts in US policy under Trump, particularly concerning international legal bodies like the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has blamed Israel for a “genocide”: “We may see US legislation against the ICC. There could be a shift. The Americans say, ‘We’re next.’…

The Trump administration is likely to strongly oppose the ICC’s attempts to convict Israel of “genocide,” even though the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Jewish state, which has never accepted the Rome Statute that created it. Were the ICC to rule against Israel, that would also serve as a precedent that might damage another non-member of the ICC, that is also a target of the international left, the United States.

Regarding Iran, Sa’ar’s tone was unyielding. Still, he was also very conservative in his response, not getting into details of a reported possible third Israeli strike on Iran. “Iran must never possess nuclear weapons; this is a red line we cannot play with,” he declared, focusing on the existential threat a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to Israel and the region.

He stressed the importance of collaboration with the US in preventing Tehran from achieving its nuclear ambitions. However, he criticized the public discourse surrounding potential military action. “The entire public discussion about attacking Iran does not serve our interests. This is not something that should be handled in this manner,” he said….

Those Israelis, and their supporters, who are openly speculating about when, and how, and with what arms, including arms that may be given to the IDF by the Pentagon, should in Sa’ar’s cautious view keep quiet. You never know: someone might hit on exactly what the IDF plans to do, and inadvertently reveal those plans to Iran. Sa’ar can only warn: ”This is not something that should be handled in his manner.” Loose lips sink ships.

“Iran’s partnership with Russia in Ukraine has significantly influenced global perceptions,” Sa’ar explained. “And their proxies have acted with unprecedented aggression, launching hundreds of missiles at Israel.”

“Even in Europe, where skepticism about Iran’s threat had previously prevailed, there is now greater recognition of the danger. “Today, even the Europeans understand the issue,” he said.

Certainly Iran’s alliance with Russia has made Europeans more wary of Iran, as have the missiles Iran has supplied to its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis to attack Israel. They have also been alarmed by the warning given by Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran is rushing ahead with its enrichment of uranium to the level of 60% purity, just one step below weapons-grade.

When asked about Qatar as a mediator in the hostage deal, Sa’ar said that in his opinion, they are “a highly problematic player, deeply hostile toward Israel.”…

Sa’ar is clear-eyed, as many in the West are not, about Qatar and its support for Hamas. Qatar has provided money to Hamas, and provided luxury refuges for most of Hamas’ leaders. Unlike the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, Qatar’s ruling family supports the Muslim Brotherhood, the Gaza branch of which is Hamas, and the Al-Thani have been promised, in turn, that the MB will not challenge their rule in their statelet.

Few issues illustrate the complexity of Sa’ar’s foreign policy agenda as vividly as the situation in Syria, and it is probably the most important to him. Following the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian Armed Forces, the country, Sa’ar said, is a fractured state plagued by competing factions and extremist ideologies….

Sa’ar takes a dim view of the new rulers in Syria —he calls them a “gang — not a legitimate government.” He’s clearly not impressed with the HTS’s protestations of moderation.

“The international community may understand the reasoning behind entering buffer zones, but understanding does not equate to approval. After Oct. 7, taking proactive measures is essential,” Sa’ar said. “The cabinet was presented with three options: to do nothing, to seize strategic areas that provide control over the region, or to pursue the third option – conquering up to the Syrian missile line, 12-15 km. in….

The Israeli cabinet chose the second option: the IDF has seized the Syrian side of the Golan, and intends to stay for an indefinite period until the dust settles in Damascus.

Related: Syria appoints foreign fighters to military leadership roles