Why Bet on a Dead Horse?

There are reports in the news media about Arab governments seeking normalization with the last Ba’athist regime in Damascus. This is entirely counterproductive. Major war between Israel and Iran’s allies in the Levant is entirely inescapable after Israel and America destroy the Iranian nuclear weapons program as they are jointly training to do considering that Tehran will order Hezbollah to unleash its entire rocket and missile arsenal against Israeli cities, including projectiles with chemical warheads. The scenario where Israel on its own destroys Iran’s nuclear weapons program is unlikely as the Malley negotiation track is bound for collapse even in the unlikely eventuality that Iran would agree to nuclear negotiations beyond the JCPOA. However, Israel would destroy the Iranian nuclear weapons program no matter what even if the US is not on board since this is a matter of Israeli national survival and the military outcome in the Levant would be the same. Rather than normalizing ties with the last Ba’athist regime, the Arab governments should develop and nurture diplomatic ties with the AANES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria). A war between Israel on the one hand and Hezbollah, Iran, Syria and Lebanon on the other will lead to the AANES becoming the new government in Damascus and since this war is inevitable is normalization with the AANES a far smarter choice than normalization with the last Ba’athist regime which used chemical weapons against its own Arab citizens. Arab governments should support Israel’s plans to eject Iran from the Levant and therefore normalizing relations with the last Ba’athist regime is completely counterproductive and is an option that must be rejected.