Damascus is in range of Israeli 175mm and 203mm artillery pieces on the Golan. The last time Israel and Syria fough in 1983, Syruia lost 87 aircraft and shot down none. (A few were taken down by SAMS, but their fighters were death traps.) Today, Syria is worse off compared to Israel. The only part of Syria that Israel would not level would be the port the Sovi.. er Russians have leased.
Syria is worse off in part because its young people don’t want to spend the three years or four years or whatever starting at age 18 in the compulsory military service, and many leave before that birthday to start their lives where there are jobs (Kuwait, for example — one reason Syria was in the Gulf War coalition) that pay well. The dictatorship tried an amnesty program back around 2001, it did not go well. Years ago the King of Morocco (who had his own troubles with Islamofascists) said in interview, imagine how the Israelis and Arabs could transform the region if they were at peace and working together. Yeah, or, imagine how the Israelis could transform the region if they lived there by themselves, and you get the same answer.