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Eyal Dror. Credit: Courtesy.

Eyal Dror

Lt. Col. (res.) Eyal Dror lives with his family in Kibbutz Dafna, a northern Israeli border community near Lebanon. He has served in the Israel Defense Forces for more than 30 years and is an active reserve officer in the Golan Division. He previously founded and commanded “Operation Good Neighbor” on the Israeli-Syrian border. Author of Embracing the Enemy: The Inside Story of Israel’s Secret Humanitarian Mission to Rescue Syrian Civilians From Civil War, he lectures in Israel and abroad on security, the Middle East, humanitarian aid, leadership and communal resilience.

I sat in the rooms where decisions were approved, delayed and sometimes canceled.
Saudi Arabia cannot expect Israel’s strategic help while keeping it at arm’s length politically.
It’s possible that cooperation against Hezbollah will not have to wait for peace.
The Kurds are moving toward Damascus while parts of the Druze community are moving away from it.
Events at Abu al-Duhur, Damascus and Beit Jinn point to the real test facing the Syrian president.
Diplomatic restraint is narrowing Israel’s freedom of action before its enemies have been disarmed.
Israel should not push Syria toward another dominating foreign protector.
Reports of new restrictions on targeted strikes showed how quickly a diplomatic process can become a protective shield for Hamas.
Deploying an international force before Hamas is significantly disarmed could turn that force into a shield for Hamas’s continued rule.
If early violations are glossed over to preserve a larger diplomatic process, then the entire strategy will eventually fail.
At this point in time, Israel cannot recreate an aid model born during Syria’s civil war.
Unless Israel, America and pragmatic Arab partners act now, Turkey may dominate Syria’s future.