TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with other Israeli officials and military brass have held a marathon of hectic consultations in recent days in an attempt to understand the resurgent uprising against the Syrian government, including the potential threat to Israel and how to prepare for a rapid collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's government. 

On the one hand, no one in Israel will regret the accelerated disintegration of the Iran-led axis that for years has propped up Assad in his conflict with opposition forces but now appears to be overwhelmed by the jihadist rebels' offensive. On the other hand, most Israeli defense officials are convinced that Assad’s fall will lead to longing for the days when Syria stood as a sovereign state ruled by a single ruler, despotic and cruel though he may be.

Israeli concerns

Syria's fate greatly concerns Israel in several regards. The first and most urgent is the danger of strategic weapons systems falling into the hands of the advancing rebels. These include long-range Iranian missiles and perhaps chemical weapons that Syria has continued to secretly hold. This is why, according to Arab media reports cited by Ynet military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai, Israel overnight on Tuesday bombed the Syrian Scientific Research and Studies Center, the industrial-military complex located near the town of Al-Safira, near Aleppo, as well as other strategic weapons depots north of Damascus. Unconventional weapons falling into the hands of the rebels worries Israeli leaders even if they are sworn enemies of Iran and its proxies.