Israel pushes on with strategy to keep neighbours weak in Lebanon and Syria

Beirut, Lebanon – Israel’s continuing attacks intend to keep its neighbours unstable, weak and fragmented, analysts say, and are contributing to the derailing of governing projects in Lebanon and Syria.

Conversations with experts, analysts, and diplomats reveal a belief that Israel wants to keep the two states weak and fractured, maintaining Israel as the strongest regional power.

“The Israelis believe that having weaker neighbors, as in states that aren’t really able to function, is beneficial for them because, in that context, they’re the strongest actor,” Elia Ayoub, writer, researcher, and founder of The Fire These Times podcast, told media.

Lebanon and Syria, the targets of Israel’s forays, have largely not retaliated against the Israelis, who outpower them militarily, financially and technologically.

Lebanon and Syria are both in a fragile condition.

Lebanon has been in dire economic straits for at least six years, with bouts of political paralysis, and has just emerged from a prolonged Israeli assault that killed more than 4,000 people and destroyed swaths of the country.

That war, which also badly damaged the armed movemen tHezbollah, a major domestic actor in Lebanon since the 1980s, ostensibly ended with the November 27 ceasefire.