Israel’s policy in the Syrian Civil War was primarily characterized by neutrality. Nevertheless, Israel simultaneously safeguarded its strategic interests in the region, which include combating the arming of the Shiite terrorist militia Hezbollah and preventing an Iranian presence in Syria. When the Sunni rebels and jihadists, led by Mohammed al-Joulani, swiftly captured Damascus, I was reminded of the rebels from the Syrian Civil War about a decade earlier. During that war, Israel provided humanitarian aid to refugees and the injured in Syria as part of Operation “Good Neighborhood.” It was akin to the story of the Good Samaritan—this is love for enemies par excellence.

Within this framework, medical treatment was provided to injured Syrians in Israeli hospitals, alongside additional medical and humanitarian aid at the Israeli-Syrian border on the Golan Heights. In those years, Israel sowed its first seeds in Syria, and these likely fell on fertile ground. For while the Sunni rebels fought the Assad regime and its army, the border with Israel on the Golan Heights remained calm. The Sunni jihadists did not exploit the...

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