Syria seeks Islamist expansion into Lebanon, Golan to serve Turkish interests, expert tells 'Post'

Jerusalem Post/Middle EastThe Mecca pact is being pushed now to fill the power vacuum that could be created should the Islamic regime fall, JCPA expert Yoni Ben-Menachem told The Post.Follow us on GoogleSyria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 23, 2026.(photo credit: MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS)NOVEMBER 1, 2026 18:56Updated: NOVEMBER 1, 2026 19:42Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is serving Turkish interests by seeking to join the Mecca Pact and expand a Sunni Islamist axis led by the Muslim Brotherhood, potentially positioning it to fill the power vacuum should Iran’s Islamic regime fall, Yoni Ben-Menachem, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani confirmed on Saturday that “discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance,” according to Syrian state media. The alliance currently includes Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and, potentially soon, Egypt, bringing together several major Sunni powers.“They estimate that Iran is about to collapse, so they created this Mecca Pact, this Mecca alliance, which will also include Sunni countries that are not part of the Muslim Brotherhood but are also Sunni. They will fill the vacuum left by the collapse of the Shi’ite axis following the fall of the Iranian regime,” he said, theorizing that Qatar would soon announce it is considering joining.Despite this, Iran has responded positively so far to the Mecca Pact, with experts previously telling the Post that the regime viewed the new security alliance as a shift away from Washington, weakening the United States’ power in the Middle East and Gulf. Senior officials from the pact countries held open talks with Tehran in Iran last week.He noted that since the fall of the Assad regime, there have been growing calls among Syrians in large-scale demonstrations and mosques calling for jihad against Israel, specifically to claim the Golan Heights, territory Israel claimed during the 1967 Six Day War.Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR/FILE PHOTO)Expansionist ambitions go beyond Israel's security zone, Menachem arguesagainst Israel, specifically to claim the Golan Heights, territory Israel claimed during the 1967 Six Day War.That desire for expansion, he continued, was not simply a response to Israel’s security zone, though Menachem argued that it justified the zone’s presence, but part of an expansionist aspiration.“They always had aspirations to take over Lebanon, and up until 2005, there was a military presence of the Syrian army in Lebanon,” he said. “They had to withdraw from Lebanon after the assassination of Rafic Hariri, the [former] Lebanese prime minister.”Syria seeks to rebuild army from armed groups with Turkish supportNow, Syria is focused on building up its army with the more than 130 armed groups currently dispersed across the country, with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham forming the “backbone” of this new venture, he continued, all with Turkish support.“According to Israeli security sources, this new army poses a danger to Israel if it succeeds in being formed, because its members are jihadists who are considering attacking Israel in the future. They are also supported by Turkey, which is very hostile toward Israel,” Menachem said.“This is why Israel says the threat justifies the establishment of the security zone. We cannot take the risk of withdrawing from the zone, because they could do to us what Hamas did to the Jewish communities along the Gaza border.”Follow us on Google