InfoAnda - Analysis: Israel frets on sideline as fall of Assad delayed |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Obama Retracts Clinton's Comparison of Mexican Violence to Colombia | 10 September 2010
1 million unemployed expected in Thailand | 22 March 2009
New Iraq cabinet starts work on 'enormous' challenges | 22 December 2010

Report: NKorea could give up nukes for US ties | 21 January 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Analysis: Israel frets on sideline as fall of Assad delayed |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (2) Full Focus Editor's Choice Our best photos from the last 24 hours. See more Images of April Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Banks prepare for the return of the drachma 6:49am EDT JPMorgan $2 billion trading loss dents teflon image | 11:52am EDT Facebook's IPO already oversubscribed: source | 8:53am EDT Greece hurtles towards new election; hard left leads 10:54am EDT JPMorgan $2 bln trading loss spooks bank stocks 8:24am EDT Discussed 142 Obesity fight must shift from personal blame: U.S. panel 132 Romney apologizes for bullying incident at school 122 Florida nabs white supremacists planning ”race war” Watched Prince Charles fills in as TV weatherman Thu, May 10 2012 World's rarest gorilla makes camera-trap debut Wed, May 9 2012 U.S. downs test missile with new interceptor Thu, May 10 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Mother's Day in prison An annual Mother's Day event, Get On The Bus, brings children to visit their mothers in prison. Slideshow Afghan girls An indepth look at the lives of girls in Afghanistan in times of uncertainty. Slideshow Analysis: Israel frets on sideline as fall of Assad delayed Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Syria suicide bombers kill 55, ceasefire in tatters 10:33am EDT Syria rebels kill 7, bomb explodes near U.N. monitors Wed, May 9 2012 Fears of Syrian civil war deepen; U.S. aids opposition Tue, May 8 2012 U.N. hears bleak assessment of Annan's Syria peace push Tue, May 8 2012 Netanyahu surprise gives Israel grand coalition Tue, May 8 2012 Analysis & Opinion When shareholder democracy trumps the real thing Bringing a terror mastermind to justice Related Topics World » United Nations » Syria » Israel » Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) visits to place flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the occasion of Martyrs' Day, in Damascus May 6, 2012, in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Credit: Reuters/SANA/Handout By Douglas Hamilton JERUSALEM | Fri May 11, 2012 12:02pm EDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Keen for a little bit of certainty in a turbulent Arab world, Israeli leaders persuaded themselves last year that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - the devil they knew next door - was finished, and something possibly better might be on the way. But it was not to be. With the Syrian uprising now into its 14th month and Assad still firmly in power, Israel has few options other than to sit the crisis out, unable to influence the outcome of an upheaval that is sure to affect it. Israeli officials and analysts believe Assad will hang on for a while, battling a popular revolt that Israel, Arab and Western powers worry could yet be hijacked by Islamist radicals, after four decades of calm along Israel's border with Syria. "A nuanced evaluation of the situation in Syria suggests that while Assad has lost his legitimacy amongst the masses, he still maintains the vital support of much of the army," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in Jerusalem last week. "So the tragic massacre of innocents continues while the future of Syria is shrouded in uncertainty," he told foreign correspondents. "Whatever follows Assad's bloodstained regime will be greeted with Israel's extended hand of peace ... Our other hand will remain firmly grasped to our weapon." As with the revolt that toppled their longtime Egyptian ally Hosni Mubarak 15 months ago, Israeli leaders had tried to keep their lips buttoned about Syria at first and let the storm unfold, hoping for the best. Then as the death toll quickly mounted in Assad's ruthless crackdown on the popular challenge to his rule, top officials including Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Assad regime was clearly on its way out. But that was last year. Assad is still in power. In the long term, Israel would like nothing better than to see the collapse of the Shi'ite Muslim-dominated Syria-Iran-Hezbollah axis, a hostile northern arch in which Assad's government headed by his Alawite sect forms the keystone. Syria's fractious Sunni Muslim-led opposition says it would turn a post-Assad Syria away from Israel's main enemy, Iran, towards moderate Sunni powers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. The prospect of peace with Syria is enticing for Israel. But Syria's opposition is deeply divided, and Israel has little if any leverage to promote the emergence of a moderate government next door in Damascus - three hours' drive from Tel Aviv. "Israel is entirely powerless to affect the outcome in Syria," says Jonathan Spyer, senior fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs centre in Herzliya. "Israel's role in the current events in Syria is that of spectator." "What Israel of course can do and is doing is to strengthen its defensive posture on its northern border in the event of any attempt by elements in Syria to try to re-focus attention on Israel. For my part, I consider this unlikely..." Spyer said. WEAK OPPOSITION Israeli and foreign analysts agree that the grand coalition forged by Netanyahu this week could strengthen his hand in dealing with what Western officials suspect are Iran's nuclear arms development plans and in reviving hopes of a Middle East peace with the Palestinians. But Netanyahu's now unassailable Knesset majority makes no obvious or immediate difference in the case of Syria. Two car bombers killed nearly 60 people on Thursday in the deadliest strike in Damascus since the uprising began. The attack appeared to drive a stake through the heart of a dying ceasefire declared by international mediator Kofi Annan on April 12, which he acknowledges has failed to halt the bloodshed. "The hapless attempt to implement the Kofi Annan plan is ending in absurdity and humiliation," said Spyer. He believed Assad stood a good chance of surviving, "unless an international coalition comes into being which supports the opposition at least as firmly as the international coalition behind Assad supports him". Active support of the opposition would mean the creation of a buffer zone in the north, and assistance to the armed element in the Syrian uprising, this analyst said. Technically, Israel remains at war with Syria and its involvement in such a risky gamble seems highly improbable. Despite Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights after the 1973 Middle East conflict, the United Nations-patrolled disengagement line with Syria has been Israel's quietest border for 40 years - under the late Hafez al-Assad and now his son. Barak predicted one year ago that Assad would soon be toppled, saying Israel should not be alarmed. The process taking place in the Middle East holds great promise, he said last May. Today Barak says Israel must be ready in case "as Syria descends into chaos, advanced weapons, or part of their stock of chemical and biological weapons could spill over into both terrorist and criminal hands". Syria is widely believed to possess chemical warheads which can be fired with Soviet-era Scud missiles. Israel fears that Hezbollah, or radical Islamists, or al Qaeda fighters, could grab some of them in an uncontrolled meltdown of the regime. YEMENI-STYLE SOLUTION? "Assad is going to last," said Syria analyst Moshe Maoz of Hebrew University. "The balance of power is in his favor. There have been no mass defections." The officer corps of the army are members of Assad's minority Alawite sect, who know they would be slaughtered if Sunni-led rebels took control of Syria, and so will fight on for their lives, Maoz said. Punitive embargoes could take years to bring down Assad, he said. Sympathetic neighbors Iraq and Lebanon would ensure that Damascus never faces "a fully-fledged siege" of sanctions. In the meantime, Maoz said, Israel's best long-term strategy would be to close ranks with Sunni Arab leaders in the region, by moving finally and decisively to settle the Middle East conflict, with a peace treaty and a Palestinian state. "This is the crux issue for everybody," the analyst said. Not all Israelis agree there is real linkage between the occupation of the West Bank and Arab or Iranian hostility. But Israel is in "a stormy sea in which the waves of radicalism are growing in strength", said Barak, and "any intimation of democracy, any hint of peace should be grabbed with both hands." A senior official said Israel had no solution for Syria up its sleeve. It is anxious to see more assertive policies by Western and Arab capitals, including imposition of humanitarian corridors to areas of conflict from which the United Nations estimates one million Syrians have been displaced. Such corridors would need military protection, which Western powers so far firmly rule out. Syria's northern neighbor Turkey could force a rethink, however, if it were to declare to its NATO allies that its own security was threatened. Still, it would be mistaken to corner Assad, the Israeli official said. It would be wiser to seek a way to convince his ally Russia that its investment in Syria would not be lost if Assad could be convinced to step aside, as Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh did late last year under Saudi and American pressure. Russian cooperation, said Spyer, is crucial if the Western-Arab coalition backing Annan's plan decides Assad is not complying and goes back to the Security Council seeking "further measures" to enforce a ceasefire and political settlement. "It is Russian weaponry which is keeping Assad in place. Russia has invested deeply in Syria, both in terms of arms exports and broader infrastructural projects and the search for oil and gas. Of course, the importance of the naval base at Tartous should also not be underestimated," he said. But Spyer thinks Moscow and other allies of Assad "apparently believe that the regime stands a good chance of coming through this and now has the upper hand. So why should they do their U.S. regional rivals a favor and make themselves look weak by abandoning a client?" (Editing by Mark Heinrich) World United Nations Syria Israel Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (2) Slammy wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Friday, 11 May 2012
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
British played central role in foiled bomb operation: sources |
Insight: Afghan women fade from White House focus as exit nears |
Putin flexes muscle in shunning U.S.-hosted G8 talks |
Scepticism main challenger in Algerian election |
Libya finance minister says to resign soon, cites wastage |
France's Hollande to fight firms that fire workers |
German police suspend officer over Salafist links |
Microsoft redesigns Bing, plays up Facebook link |
Facebook listing could trigger IPO surge: Nasdaq |
Audience shares rise in debut on Apple link |
Intel CEO plays down concerns about tech spending |
Russell Brand to host 2012 MTV Movie Awards |
The Simpsons go Gaga for season finale |
House finale bittersweet: Everybody Dies |
Tenacious D aim to revive hard rock with Fenix |
British played central role in foiled bomb operation: sources |
Lawyers for China dissident's nephew say they face threats |
South Africa's De Klerk stirs ire with apartheid remarks |
Syria suicide bombers kill 55, ceasefire in tatters |
Greek parties scramble to avert new vote |
Analysis: China's Hu could cast long shadow if top table trimmed |
French left set to win parliament vote: polls |
British PM faces scrutiny over ties to Murdoch |
Spain to approve banks cleanup after tough talks |
Civilian deaths in Afghanistan fall 20 percent: U.N. |
Facebook's IPO already oversubscribed: source |
Sony slides to three-decade low on strategy doubts |
Insight: Salesforce's plan for opulent campus a costly debacle |
Yahoo CEO says he never provided a resume: source |
Online music storage firm MP3tunes files for bankruptcy |
Google, Twitter quizzed on Facebook-Instagram: source |
Facebook listing could trigger IPO surge: Nasdaq |
Analysis: Cisco spooks, but IT spending seen on the mend |
House finale bittersweet: Everybody Dies |
Hollie Cavanagh couldn't make 'Idol' fans love her |
Long road to South Korean stage for Syrian drama |
ABC renews Modern Family and other shows |
CBS sues ABC, says new show copies Big Brother |
Howard Stern says will tone down act for Got Talent |
Syria says thwarts attempted 1,200 kg car bomb |
NATO head urges Pakistan to open transit routes in time for summit |
Analysis: Israel frets on sideline as fall of Assad delayed |
Egyptians vote abroad, leadership contest heats up |
New Tunisia constitution ready in October: speaker |
Czech restitution plan may unlock vast church lands |
Algeria declares ruling FLN winner of parliament vote |
Nvidia revenue, outlook beat Street; shares jump |
Analysis: Facebook friends Itaú BBA in nod to Brazil growth |
Viddy gets $30 million funding, aims to stand out from competition |
Cannes film festival puts spotlight on rising stars |
Zooey Deschanel to portray Loretta Lynn on Broadway |
The Dictator film launches in offensive style |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01