Notice that in the current war, Assad has not opened up an additional front against the Jewish state not wanting to give it any pretext to blast away at the Syrian army
The IDF has struck some 70 targets in Syria over the year but those have primarily been Iranian and Hezbollah assets not assets belonging to the Syrian army
And why does Israel not want to see Assad overly weakened? Because Israel would like to see Damascus move away from Iran and toward the moderate Sunni countries like the United Arab Emirates
In recent months there has been positive movement in that direction, movement that will likely now come to a halt as Assad will need more – not less – help from Iran
If in the past, the bargain offered to Assad was economic aid from the Gulf countries in exchange for moving out of Iran’s circle of influence, now Syria is in desperate need of boots on the ground – which only Iran or its proxies, can provide
A new ruler in Damascus of the Sunni jihadist variety would be unpredictable
As to why Israel would not like to see Assad toppled, this is because that may lead to chaos, something rarely good for Israel
Jerusalem, in general, likes predictability – and Assad in Syria provides that
While Assad is no friend, Israel at least knows what to expect from him, 1. what he can and cannot do 2. what he will and will not do
If under the guise of the reignited civil war, Israel sees Iran trying to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, it can be expected to act But, short of that, it can be expected to let its enemies just slog it out – all the while repeating the mantra:
