To Israel, Assad is 'the devil you know'

Syria's president yesterday dashed expectations that he would announce sweeping reforms and instead took a tough line, blaming two weeks of popular fury on a foreign conspiracy.

Bashar Assad's own officials billed his speech as an introduction of major change and the turnaround infuriated protesters who vowed to keep up with their extraordinary cries for reform.

"Syria is being subjected to a major conspiracy," Assad said in his first public comments since the turmoil began, touched off by the arrest of several teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall. Human-rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed since March 18 as security forces cracked down on the demonstrations.

Assad made only a passing reference to the protesters' calls for change, saying he was in favor of reform, but acknowledged there have been delays. "The question is what reforms do we need," he said, without offering any specifics.

Social-networking sites immediately exploded with activists calling on Syrians to take to the streets.

Meanwhile, Israel finds itself again quietly rooting for the survival of an autocratic yet predictable Arab regime, rather than face an untested new government in its place.

Assad's race to tamp down public unrest is stirring anxiety in Israel that is even higher than its hand-wringing over Egypt's recent regime change. Unlike Israel and Egypt, Israel and Syria have no peace agreement, and Syria, with a large arsenal of sophisticated arms, is one of Israel's strongest enemies.

"You want to work with the devil you know," said Moshe Maoz, a former government adviser and Syria expert at Hebrew University's Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace.