Brig. Gen. Assaf Orion (Res.) is The Washington Institute’s Rueven International Fellow, a senior research fellow at the INSS, and former head of the IDF Strategic Planning Division.
Brief Analysis
Israel and Turkey have taken very different approaches to the new regime in Syria, but both risk undermining that country's fragile transition. Join us for an expert webcast exploring the differing regional responses to Syria's nascent government. Watch live starting at 12:-00 noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
Israel and Turkey have taken active postures to shape developments in post-Assad Syria. While Ankara is backing the interim government’s efforts to consolidate security and governance (including over Washington’s longtime Kurdish partners in the north), Jerusalem has continued the cross-border military campaign it began months ago. Both approaches risk undermining the fragile transition, preventing inclusive, non-sectarian governance, and perpetuating the conflict. Will Syria become a fault line in U.S. relations with these two allies, or can they reconcile their conflicting policies and find a path toward dialogue and peace?
To discuss these issues, The Washington Institute is pleased to host a two-part virtual Policy Forum: in Part 1, Maya Gebeily will examine on-the-ground developments in Syria; in Part 2, Soner Cagaptay and Assaf Orion will break down possibilities for Israeli and Turkish policy toward the new Syria and the implications for their cooperation with the United States. Both panels will be moderated by David Makovsky, the Institute’s Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and director of its Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations.
Watch a live web cast of this event starting at 12:00 noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
Maya Gebeily is the Reuters bureau chief for Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Previously, she worked as a reporter for Agence France-Presse, including in Baghdad and Beirut.
Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, director of its Turkish Research Program, and author of its recent paper “Building on Momentum in U.S.-Turkey Relations.”
Assaf Orion is The Washington Institute’s Rueven International Fellow, a senior research fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, and former head of the IDF Strategic Planning Division.
The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.
