It is in Israel’s strategic interest that Iran and its allies like Syria and Russia be alienated from other Arab nations, the EU and US, all enemies of Israel in one way or another at this point in history.
Israel has worked from its beginning to exploit divisions among its enemies and seek Arab friends starting with the grandfather of the current Jordanian king who was assassinated for his friendly attitude towards Israel back around 1950.
Israel is working with the Saudis right now it appears to oppose Assad because he is the ally of Iran and along with Hezbollah, provide launch platforms for attacks on Israel.
The Saudis see Iran as a big threat as well.
Did the Saudis open up the oil spigots to hurt frackers in the US or hurt Russia, friend of Iran?
And events in Ukraine last January that have led things to where they are now did not happen by accident and I don’t think Putin would have started them during the Olympics.
Israel doesn’t have much to worry about when it comes to the hostility its none-too-neighborly neighbors have toward one another. But the number of coherent polities in the region has been declining for a while now.
The Russians have been trying to prevent direct distribution of methane from the Gulf states to the European market. The Turks favor it, they have also tried doing business with Iran. Assad supports whatever his sponsors want him to support, and is part of the route. Iraq’s a failed state, and Iran plans to keep it that way, maintaining a Shiite paramilitary buffer.
Traditional enemies Russia and Turkey have been in a thaw since Erdogan took power. Turkey currently transships (via pipelines) natural gas from Iran, and naturally will have to be involved in any commerce to Europe. Putin’s given up on his dismemberment and conquest of Ukraine (he had a few good years, after installing a puppet regime there) at least for now, and will wind up working with the Turks to bring more Iranian and Central Asian natural gas through Turkish territory and into the European market. If Syria can be tamed down, a pipeline from Arabia through Jordan and Syria will get built in a hurry.
Assad must know he’s expendible, moreso now than any time in the last four years, so he’s doing as little as possible, letting the various rebel groups (and local yokels he armed on the way out of town) fight each other and fight the Hezbollah. He’ll have to make a move of some kind as his position deteriorates, what the move will be will depend on what particular crapburger he’s willing to swallow.
Once the Iranians and Turks come to some kind of new understanding, the Russians will be out, but that will also mean the end of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Turkey will remain in NATO rather than making an alliance with the Russians (how stupid would they have to be to align with Pooty’s evil empire?).
The Jordanian emir was assassinated in 1951 by terrorists associated with the PLO of today — in the al-Aqsa mosque. He was a slippery bastard too, but wanted a small allocation of contiguous territory for the Jews, and wanted much of the rest for himself.
His son spent his entire political career, until his death, trying to tiptoe down the white line in the middle of the road, banning the Muslim Brotherhood, granting clemency for many a death sentence, hosting terrorists, ruling over a 70 percent “Palestinian” population, claiming descent from Mohammed, launching wars on his Jewish neighbors, tipping the hand of his Arab ‘brothers’, but (after 30+ years of so-called negotiations) giving up his dream of re-annexing the “west bank” and concluding a peace treaty with Israel.
If Jordan goes, the all of Arabia will go. The current king of Jordan is just as much of a snake as his forebears, but he’s maybe half as smart. The stability of Jordan is his bulletproof vest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan#Expansionist_aspirations
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-08-01/the-emerging-iranian-turkish-energy-partnership