The Syrian regime has been in power since 1970. When the late President Hafez Assad passed away ten years ago, many speculated that the regime would crumble without its strong man. It did not and in fact has shown admirable resilience.

During the Bush administration’s years of active engagement in the Middle East, Syria was subjected to intense pressure because of its strong opposition of the Iraq war. During that period, the Bush administration and its Arab allies in addition to French President Jacques Chirac, tried relentlessly to isolate, weaken, or even topple the Syrian regime.

In 2006, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said "The pressure on the Syrian regime now is much stronger now than it's been for decades,"

They failed, and the result was the exact opposite: a considerably stronger regime.

A recent University of Maryland poll conducted in leading Arab moderate countries showed that President Assad is the most popular leader in the Arab world.

Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood recently decided to withdraw from the main Syrian opposition group (the National Salvation Front). The reason for their decision was to show support to the Syrian leadership’s role in assisting Palestinian resistance.

The Syrian leadership will continue to be committed to solving the Palestinian and Lebanese conflicts with Israel and will not lose popularity the way Egypt did after it abandoned Palestinian rights when it signed the Camp David Accords.

President Assad is highly popular in Syria and in the Middle East in general. He is precisely the Arab leader that Israel needs to make peace with.