OTHER COMMENTARY / EXCERPTS : Marching to Protect a Sweet Deal

The Iraqi invasion will affect the Arab-Israeli conflict through its impact on Syria, a key player. Syria and Iraq are bitter enemies. During Iraq’s 10-year war with Iran, Syria was the only Arab state to side with Iran.

To the Syrian dictator Hafez Assad, the Iraqi invasion is an ominous development. Iraqi domination of the Arab world would come at Syria’s expense. Saddam Hussein might try to force the small oil-producing states of the Persian Gulf to reduce the subsidies on which Syria depends. He might even decide to attack Syria.

Assad has already been weakened by the revolution in Soviet foreign policy, which has deprived him of the military and political support from Moscow that he once enjoyed. In response, he has tried to improve his relations with the West, and now he has even stronger reasons for doing so. He surely understands, however, that establishing close relations with the West requires ending the confrontation with Israel.

Syria is Israel’s most belligerent, stubborn and dangerous neighbor. If the differences between the two were to be resolved, the other aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict--including the far more visible struggle between Israelis and Palestinians--would be much easier to settle.