The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government has aggravated already tense relations between Turkiye and Israel, with their conflicting interests in Syria pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course.
Turkiye, which long backed groups opposed to Assad, has emerged as a key player in Syria and is advocating for a stable and united Syria, in which a central government maintains authority over the whole country.
It welcomed a breakthrough agreement that Syria's new interim government signed this week with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, to integrate with the Syrian government and army.
Israel, on the other hand, remains deeply suspicious of Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, pointing to his roots in al-Qaida. It's also wary of Turkiye's influence over Damascus and appears to want to see Syria remain fragmented after the country under Assad was turned into a staging ground for its archenemy, Iran, and Tehran's proxies.
Syria has become