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 Israel and its neighbor Syria are long-term enemies, but the
remarks by Amos Gilad, strategic adviser to Israeli Defense Minister
Moshe Yaalon, reflect concerns by states across the region that
Syria is undergoing a de facto partition after four years of civil
war.
"Syria is gone. Syria is dying. The funeral will be declared in due
time. This Bashar Assad, he will be remembered in history textbooks
as the one who lost Syria," Gilad told an intelligence conference
organized by the Israel Defense journal on Monday.
"Until now he has lost 75 percent of Syria ... He is, practically,
governor of 20 percent of Syria. And his future, if I may predict
it, is shrinking all of the time. And maybe we will have him as the
president of 'Alawistan'," Gilad added.
 Since March, Assad has steadily lost territory in the northwest,
south and central Syria to an array of groups including Islamic
State, the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, and rebels who profess a
more moderate vision for Syria.
Many analysts believe pro-government forces are focusing their
efforts on shoring up control over a western area of Syria
stretching north from Damascus through Homs and Hama to the
Mediterranean coast, including the heartland of the Alawites.
However, the Syrian government is still fighting to maintain
outposts in other parts of the country, including the cities of
Hasaka and Qamishli in the northeast, Deir al-Zor city in the east,
Deraa in the south and Aleppo in the north.
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Israel has largely sought to keep out of the insurgency next door,
worried that Assad could be toppled by more hostile Sunni Islamist
insurgents. However, Israel has also provided humanitarian relief to
rebels fighting Assad's forces.
Despite efforts toward peace in the 1990s, Syria and Israel are
long-running enemies, having fought wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973. In
the 1967 war, Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria and
retains the territory, a high plateau overlooking southwest Syria
and the approach to Damascus.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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