Media Appearance: Interview on Hong-Kong Phoenix Television

Hong Kong's most influential news channel, Phoenix TV, interviewed me regarding the American -British - French airstrike on Syria, following its use of chemical weapons. I discussed that the strike is likely to be a limited one and not indicative of greater future involvement by the western powers, and that the US still intends to withdraw its limited troop presence from Syria. Rather, the west was intend on reestablishing red lines on the US of chemical weapons, reestablishing deterrence and reasserting itself vis-a-vis the Russians. This will not likely spark a wider conflict as the US made it clear the Russians and Iranians were not the targets, and both refrained from retaliating.

The reporter was interested if Israel would also join the coalition against Syria. I explained that the US led efforts in Syria are very much detached from what Israel does in Syria, and both parties will likely keep it that way, as Israel is focused on stopping Iran from basing itself militarily there.

This is mysecond interview with Phoenix TV in the past month. The last was on US-Israel relations and the previous meeting between Trump and Netanyahu, Iran, the Palestinian issue and more. It seems that producers in Hong Kong, and perhaps the Chinese government, are taking a greater interest in the Middle East than in the past, at least from what I can see.