Dr Nir Boms

Tel Aviv University

Bio

Dr. Nir Boms is a researcher, educator, and policy expert specializing in the Middle East, regional cooperation, and conflict resolution. He serves as the Director of the TAU Workshop on Israel and the Middle East at Tel Aviv University and is the founder of the Program for Regional Cooperation and the Gulf Israel Policy Forum. He is a Fellow of the International Institute for Counter Terrorism; Member of Board the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations.

Old Israel, New Syria: Israel as the Consequential Variable

Abstract

Drawing on Syrian and Israeli perspectives, the study evaluates the emerging Syrian National Project: its bid for legitimacy amid reconstruction pressures, institutional fragility, and localized autonomy, and its effort to balance Turkish, Russian, Gulf, and U.S. interests. It further assesses Israel’s evolving role in Syria, especially following the Suweyda massacre, and argues that, despite persistent mistrust, a list of common interests may present a narrow but meaningful opportunity to activate previously inaccessible channels of cooperation.