As Syria sinks deeper into political ambiguity under the de facto leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, widely known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the consequences are no longer confined within the borders of a collapsing state. The question regional capitals are now asking is no longer who governs Damascus, but whether the actor in power possesses the basic capacity to administrate and produce stability at all.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements reflect this concern with striking clarity. His recent warning that developments in northern Syria may reshape the threat landscape along Israel’s northern frontier underscores a growing reality: Syria’s crisis of legitimacy has evolved into a regional security threat.
Syria’s borders have always been fragile; however, the elevation of a factional figure with no constitutional mandate has rendered them more vulnerable than at any point in the past decade. Netanyahu emphasized that an unstable and extralegal authority in Damascus translates immediately into compromised borders—whether on the Golan Heights, the Jordanian frontier, or the Turkish and Iraqi corridors.
When power is built on a faction rather than a state, border management becomes the domain of local militias, smuggling networks, and competing power centers rather than national institutions. (Read More)
