{"id":601,"date":"2026-03-03T13:47:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/601\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T13:47:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:47:25","slug":"why-sweida-matters-for-israels-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/601\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Sweida matters for Israel\u2019s security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Damascus under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is quietly trying to absorb southern Syria<\/a>. Israel\u2019s best defense against this creeping Islamist state is to ensure it fails.<\/p>\n

Right now, behind closed doors, Syria\u2019s new Islamist leadership is preparing a strategic takeover of Israel\u2019s backyard. Sharaa\u2019s government in Damascus plans to execute a \u201cNorthern Scenario\u201d in the Druze-majority province of Sweida within the next two months. Under the guise of a US- and Jordanian-brokered \u201croad map\u201d to curb border drug smuggling, Sharaa\u2019s internal security forces are preparing to roll into the province to enforce \u201cpeaceful integration.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Israel, this is a glaring red flashing light. If Sharaa successfully pacifies Sweida, an internationally whitewashed, jihadist-born regime will permanently anchor itself along the Jordanian border, directly flanking the Golan Heights<\/a>.
But there is a fatal flaw in Damascus\u2019s plan \u2013 and within that flaw lies a historic, strategic opportunity for Israel.<\/p>\n

The illusion of ‘integration’<\/p>\n

Sharaa is attempting to use local proxies to enforce his will. His strategy relies heavily on handing administrative control to Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri and his son Salman, whose \u201cNational Guard\u201d currently dominates the area.
However, the Druze street is actively revolting against this arrangement. The local population views the Hijris as catastrophic failures and illegitimate proxies for a central government they fundamentally distrust. The Druze of Sweida know exactly who Sharaa is: a rebranded warlord whose ideological DNA is inextricably linked to al-Qaeda<\/a> and who shares the same fundamentalist roots as ISIS.<\/p>\n

The internal friction has already reached a boiling point. Just days ago, an armed group linked to Salman al-Hijri\u2019s faction kidnapped Sheikh Yahya al-Hajjar, the former commander of the revered Rijal al-Karama (Men of Dignity) movement. This unprecedented violation of Druze religious and social norms has fractured the local security architecture. The people of Sweida are making it clear: they will not submit to an Islamist government in Damascus, even if their nominal leadership signs a deal.<\/p>\n

\"Syria\u2019sSyria\u2019s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa looks on as he attends the \u201cAleppo, Key to Victory\u201d celebration marking Syria\u2019s liberation, in Aleppo, Syria May 27, 2025. (credit: REUTERS\/KHALIL ASHAWI)The Islamist threat to the Golan<\/p>\n

Israel has traditionally viewed the fragmentation of southern Syria as a chaotic threat to be contained. But the alternative \u2013 a unified south under the thumb of Sharaa\u2019s rebranded Islamists \u2013 is far worse.<\/p>\n

Damascus\u2019s stated goal of deploying state security to the Jordanian border is a Trojan horse. While the international community (including US envoy Tom Barrack) views this as a necessary step to stop the rampant Captagon smuggling left over from the previous regime, the reality is darker. Deploying Sharaa\u2019s forces to Sweida is a territorial conquest designed to subjugate a fierce minority population and box in the IDF.<\/p>\n

If Sharaa establishes full sovereignty over Sweida, the Golan Heights will face a unified, hostile, and deeply entrenched Islamist front. A government born from Hay\u02bcat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) cannot be trusted to police the border with Israel; it will inevitably provide sanctuary and state-sanctioned cover to radical Sunni actors and ISIS remnants operating in the Badia desert.<\/p>\n

The ‘Middle East Switzerland’ solution<\/p>\n

Israel must shift its paradigm. Instead of fearing the collapse of Damascus\u2019s authority in the south, Jerusalem should quietly recognize the strategic value of a breakaway Sweida.<\/p>\n

A de facto autonomous, neutral Druze zone is the ultimate buffer. The Druze of Sweida are fiercely independent, heavily armed, and viscerally anti-Islamist. If supported \u2013 even indirectly \u2013 in their resistance to Sharaa\u2019s \u201cintegration\u201d plan, Sweida could become a \u201cMiddle East<\/a> Switzerland\u201d: a heavily fortified, neutral canton that refuses entry to Sharaa\u2019s forces, ISIS remnants, and hostile militias alike.<\/p>\n

This is not about nation-building; it is cold, hard realpolitik. A Sweida that governs itself is a Sweida that naturally blocks the expansion of Sharaa\u2019s Islamist project. It acts as an organic, indigenous shield for both Israel\u2019s eastern flank and Jordan\u2019s northern border.<\/p>\n

The window is closing<\/p>\n

Damascus has set a two-month timeline to force this integration. Israel cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while an Islamist regime consolidates power mere miles from the Golan.<\/p>\n

Israel must utilize its diplomatic leverage in Washington to expose the \u201cintegration\u201d road map for what it is: an Islamist border-expansion project dressed up as an international security initiative.<\/p>\n

The Druze of Sweida are currently fighting to keep Sharaa out. Their survival is no longer just a Syrian internal matter; it is a core Israeli national security interest. A breakaway Sweida is no longer a chaotic risk \u2013 it is Israel\u2019s best security bet against the new Damascus.<\/p>\n

The writer, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Damascus under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is quietly trying to absorb southern Syria. Israel\u2019s best defense against this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[672,671,670,669,49,673,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-601","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-syria","8":"tag-ahmed-al-sharaa","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-damascus","11":"tag-golan-heights","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-sweida","14":"tag-syria"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116165557901775672","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}