February 16, 2012, a former Israeli intelligence chief told Japan’s NHK news that the loss of the current Syrian government would actually be bad for Israel.

Efraim Halevy, who served as Mossad director from 1998 to 2002, is warning of chaos in the Middle East should the current Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad fall.

He said such a loss would create a power vacuum, and weapons would flow freely into the hands of those groups who hate Israel.  Halevy also suggested that it was in Israel’s interests to keep the Assad government in power, even if it meant supporting Assad militarily!