[News] 'Syria and Turkiye represent bigger threat to Israel than Iran'

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 'Syria and Turkiye represent bigger threat to Israel than Iran': Israeli
minister

Israeli occupation troops have launched hundreds of airstrikes and ground
incursions into Syrian territory since the fall of the Assad government

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUN 19, 2026 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/syria-and-turkiye-represent-bigger-threat-to-israel-than-iran-israeli-minister
(Photo credit: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP)

On 18 June, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli declared in an
interview with Israeli Army Radio that Tel Aviv “will be at war with Syria
sooner or later,” highlighting that the alliance between Damascus and
Turkiye poses a “strategic challenge” to his country.

The Likud official said, “There is no way that a jihadist regime rooted in
ISIS and Al-Qaeda, whose aspiration is the unification of Jerusalem, can
live in peace alongside the State of Israel.”

In a separate interview with Kol Barama, a prominent Israeli ultra-Orthodox
radio station, Chikli identified Syria as part of a “radical Sunni axis of
evil” involving Qatar, Turkiye, and Pakistan, labeling it “far more
troubling” than Iran, and claimed that these nations shaped a recent
US–Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) intended to end regional
hostilities.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the memorandum as an
“important development,” Chikli joined other Likud lawmakers in branding
Turkiye an “enemy state.”

He claimed that Turkiye holds “very clear ambitions” compromising Israeli
interests, saying that Ankara and Damascus are “ten thousand times more
concerning than Iran.”

Following the ousting of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in
December 2024, the Israeli military continues to occupy Syrian land and
destroy military equipment, using the new government as a pretext for
escalation and territorial expansion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now demands total
demilitarization from south Damascus to the 1973 demarcation line.

Since December 2024, Israeli military violations in southern Syria have
escalated beyond periodic airstrikes to a sustained campaign involving
ground incursions, raids, and the establishment of checkpoints.

𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝟮𝟰 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳
𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹𝗶 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆
𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗮

Since December 2024, Israeli operations have expanded beyond airstrikes to
include ground incursions, raids,… pic.twitter.com/rgMKOePkDD
<https://t.co/rgMKOePkDD>
— Levant24 (@Levant_24_) June 18, 2026
<https://x.com/Levant_24_/status/2067675161512292826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

According to a daily tracker launched by* Levant24*, Israeli forces have
carried out approximately 1,128 ground incursions and 1,055 airstrikes,
advancing more than 20 kilometers beyond the occupied Golan Heights. These
actions have resulted in over 197 detentions and at least 36 fatalities.

Israeli occupation forces push into Quneitra village, raid homes
——
Israeli occupation forces advanced into the village of Al-Asbah in the
southern countryside of Quneitra shortly after midnight, deploying nine
military vehicles and raiding several homes before later withdrawing,…
pic.twitter.com/vUNbXuLBqj <https://t.co/vUNbXuLBqj>
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 19, 2026
<https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/2067907490554249690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

This expansion also includes property destruction and the systematic
mapping of military positions, reflecting a broader pattern of activity
that extends deep into Syrian territory.

Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is reportedly resisting
intense pressure
<https://thecradle.co/articles/syria-unwilling-unprepared-to-attack-lebanon-despite-us-pressure-report>
from the US to launch a military incursion into Lebanon to disarm
Hezbollah.

Despite a framework proposed by US President Donald Trump for the Syrian
military to lead this offensive, Sharaa remained “unprepared and
unwilling,” according to  Israel’s Broadcasting Corporation (KAN).

He cited concerns that such an attack would damage his regional legitimacy
by appearing to serve Israeli interests, especially while Israel continues
to occupy Syrian territory.

Although US envoy Tom Barrack has threatened Lebanon with a Syrian assault
to dismantle Hezbollah, Sharaa has dismissed the reports as “rumors,”
asserting his goal is to end the war rather than expand it.

"If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, Syria should do
the job," said US President Donald Trump during a bilateral meeting with
the Emir of Qatar.

Trump said the war on Lebanon was a secondary front and suggested that
Syria, in coordination with the United… pic.twitter.com/jgkH0YMkUj
<https://t.co/jgkH0YMkUj>
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 16, 2026
<https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/2066829705420882080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Israeli War Minister Israel Katz told Channel 14 that “We do not need
Julani. Julani, the terrorist in a suit, does not need to come and help us.
We know Syria well. He is not going to help us in Lebanon.”

He added that Sharaa “should stay in Syria, not interfere with us, and not
make us interfere with him.”

“Do you know what really hurts the jihadists?” Katz said, going on to
assert that killing them would not hurt them as much as “when you take
territory from them and destroy their homes – and that's what we did.”
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