While hope abounds that Mohammad al-Jolani, the new leader of Syria, will bring freedom to Syrians, an unearthed PBS Frontline documentary from 2021 indicates that he will more likely put himself on a collision course with Israel and the United States, and oppress his own people. Like the forces that emerged in Iran, Libya, Egypt (briefly with the Muslim Brotherhood), and Afghanistan, al-Jolani’s war will be a victory for jihad. (RELATED: The Familiar Themes of Hope and Delusion in Syria)

Diametrically Opposed to Israel
When interviewed, al-Jolani asserted that his family was “originally from the now-occupied Golan Heights,” and that his paternal grandfather was “displaced from the Golan in 1967 after the Israeli Zionist army entered the area [during the Six-Day War].” Born Ahmed al-Sharaa in 1982, he later changed his name to “Mohammad al-Jolani” (written by some as Mohammad al-Golani) as a reference to the Golan Heights. This origin story is critical to understanding al-Jolani’s worldview.
Israel had conquered much of the Golan Heights in a defensive war against Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1981, Israel formally annexed that land, and in 2019, the U.S. president recognized it as part of Israel. Right after the fall of Assad, again in an act of self-defense and given its immense strategic value, Israel took the rest of the Golan Heights — the buffer zone separating Israel from Syria which included the peak of Mt. Hermon.
Israel intends to stay on the summit of Mt. Hermon at least through the winter, and Israel’s Knesset has voted unanimously to double Israel’s population on the Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “[s]trengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, make it flourish, and settle it.”
Al-Jolani recently announced that Israel has “no more excuses” to strike in Syria. Meanwhile, Israel continues to degrade the former military ...