Israel\u2019s military presence inside Syria risks creating new enemies rather than simply keeping existing threats at bay, former head of IDF Combat Intelligence Col. Miri Eisin warned, questioning whether Prime Minister Netanyahu\u2019s security doctrine is adapting to the changes it has helped bring about.<\/p>\n
Speaking on i24NEWS\u2019 On the Record, Eisin supported the principle of preemptive action but challenged the assumption that protecting Israel requires an indefinite deployment beyond its borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we not defend from our own border? Do we have to be five, 10 kilometers into the Syrian side?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Eisin, a senior fellow at Reichman University\u2019s International Institute for Counterterrorism, said Israel\u2019s operations had helped prevent another October 7-style attack. But she questioned whether preventing a repeat of the last catastrophe was sufficient preparation for the next threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan Hamas do that again? And if they can\u2019t, do you continue acting as if they can?\u201d she asked, extending the same question to Hezbollah and Syria.<\/p>\n
For Eisin, Syria offers the clearest case for reassessing Israel\u2019s forward military presence.<\/p>\n
She credited Israel\u2019s campaign against Hezbollah with helping create the conditions for the fall of Syria\u2019s dictatorship. Although she expressed reservations about Syria\u2019s new leadership, she argued that continued Israeli deployments could give otherwise divided groups a shared cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in the tipping point that we\u2019re making more Syrians against us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Syria\u2019s focus, she argued, should be rebuilding its own country. Israel should avoid allowing its presence to become a rallying point that shifts attention toward confrontation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to build their own country. It shouldn\u2019t be about being against Israel. It should be about Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eisin advocated moving back to the internationally recognized separation line, arguing that a withdrawal could reduce daily friction without abandoning an offensive security strategy. Terrain and defensive requirements would still matter, she said, but the current situation allowed Israel to take a measured risk.<\/p>\n
Eisin also warned of a cycle in which military deployments encourage demands for civilian settlement, creating further territory that would then require protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou build the new communities and then you have to protect them,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you\u2019re going to go further in and further in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her criticism distinguished between taking the military initiative and permanently holding ground across a border.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m all for that security doctrine,\u201d she said of an offensive approach. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean you have to do it from the other side of the border.\u201d<\/p>\n
She acknowledged that Syria, Lebanon and Gaza present different challenges. But in each arena, she argued, the consequences of remaining inside neighboring territory must be weighed alongside the immediate defensive benefits.<\/p>\n
On Lebanon, Eisin said weakening Hezbollah must be accompanied by efforts to prevent Iran from restoring the group\u2019s funding and weapons supplies. Reconstruction also requires partners, she argued, or Tehran could regain influence by financing the rebuilding itself.<\/p>\n
Former IDF intelligence officer warns Israel is preparing for the wrong war | On The Record<\/p>\n
Alienating countries that could help would undermine that effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need to still have allies, not just the United States,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Eisin also questioned the limits of military force against Iran. While defending the decision to kill Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, she expressed doubt that Israel could deliver regime change from abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you can topple a regime from the outside,\u201d she said, advocating continued pressure on Iran\u2019s proxies instead.<\/p>\n
Her central challenge to Netanyahu\u2019s doctrine was whether military successes were being translated into a sustainable strategy. Preventing another October 7 remains essential, she argued, but Israel must also recognize when its actions risk generating the next source of hostility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s military presence inside Syria risks creating new enemies rather than simply keeping existing threats at bay, former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-653639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}