“Israel’s preference is for Bashar al-Assad to remain in power rather than see radical extremists’ control in Syria,” Israel’s former Army Chief Of Staff Dan Halutz is quoted by the Israeli daily Maariv as saying on Wenesday.

Dan Halutz, who served as army chief of staff during the 2006 military assault on Lebanon, told a gathering in Moscow that the prospect of al-Qaeda-affiliated elements ruling Damascus in place of the Syrian government would be more problematic from Israel’s standpoint.

“We need to admit that the opposition in Syria is comprised primarily of very extremists like al-Qaeda,” the former chief said, although in reality, Israel has supported foreign-backed militants and terrorists fighting in Syria.

“The question that needs to be asked is, ‘What is good for Israel?’ It’s an important question, because we need to ask ourselves if we want to replace this bad government with a very bad regime which we don’t know. And this is something that we need to seriously consider.”

This is while, a top figure in Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Sima Shine, issued a statement in June, urging Israel to unconditionally back government change in Syria, no matter who replaces President Assad.

In November, Syria's army discovered Israeli-made weapons in a hideout belonged to the foreign-backed militants near the capital, Damascus.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies are supporting the militants and Takfiri terrorists operating inside Syria.

Repors say certain Western and Arab states have been supporting the the fatal unrest in Syria to break the resistance movement in the Middle East in favor of the Israeli regime.

NTJ/BA