If the reports of an initiative to train Syrian President Assad to return to the Arab world in exchange for the expulsion of the Iranians from his country are correct, and Israel has shown cold feet to the point of opposition, it will be a miss.
And this is not the first miss.
There is an unexplained gap between Israel's impressive capabilities to take military initiatives and its limited capabilities in policy initiatives.
The assessment that Assad is unable to get the Iranians out of Syria rests on an old reading of the Syrian reality.
There have been surprises in the Middle East in the past, when all scholars and statesmen did not give it a chance.
During the Gamal era, 'Abd al-Nasser in Egypt, the Soviets controlled every area of the country, not just the military.
All the analysts at the time determined that there was no power in the world to get the Soviets out of the Nile.
And here comes President Sadat, and in complete surprise expelled them.
The Syrians themselves ruled Lebanon for many years completely and with an outstretched hand.
Here, too, they said they would never leave, because in their eyes Lebanon is part of Syria.
But the Lebanese surprised, expelling the Syrians from their land.
A year after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, I had the opportunity to dine at random with a well-known and respected journalist at a popular Jerusalem restaurant, which has since closed its doors.
In response to his question about Assad's future, while experienced Israeli statesmen estimated that he would survive between two weeks and a month, I said that the president would not only survive - but that in the end they would also be blackmailed.
"You're the only one in the system who thinks so," my interlocutor responded in surprise.
I reminded him that by definition, every political constellation changes with time and circumstances, creating one or more new realities.
Now the question is whether a different reality has been created in Syria than we are used to, and I think so.
As a strategic partner since the time of Hafez al-Assad, Iran has become a burden on Syria's reconstruction.
Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, the Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain are interested in returning Syria to the Arab world.
They declare and work to realize it.
Assad understands that neither Iran, nor China nor Russia can rehabilitate his ruined country.
Only the West can.
A stable Syria contributes a lot to the stability of the Middle East, but Bell is wrong.
Assad is a war criminal, and what has been done to his people is unforgivable.
If the new reality created leads to a fundamental change in Syria, and hence also in the Middle East, Assad can be brought to justice in the future when Syria stabilizes.
Meanwhile, Assad sees that a Sunni front is forming against Iran and understands that he will not be able to stand against it for long.
Israel is called upon to take political daring on this issue and to accumulate another political achievement in the Middle East, which has been blocked for many years.
Jerusalem may not lead the move, but it can do him good.
Syria is stable, free from foreign forces and under the influence of the Arab League and the Sunni world - all of this is in line with the Israeli interest.
This is the time for Real Politics.
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