Syria is very vulnerable right now with no real military worth its salt, and so is easy pickings for Israel to conquer large parts of south-west Syria now. I would not be surprised if Netanyahu does that before his elections, to present a "victory" to the voting public.
They can try, they will drown. Don't forget Syria is not isolated geographically for resupplying of manpower and weapons, it has a far larger population, and far bigger backers. The consequences of a war with Syria are greater.
There are already 2 fronts they are fighting on, and that doesn't include Iran or Yemen over the air wars. opening a 3rd front would be bigger, and an even more precarious one compared to their little Lebanon adventure.
Undoubtably if they start in Syria, the Jordanians will not wait around for them to be picked off one by one, its likely there would be some sort of Jordanian involvement, along with Egypt, Saudi and Turkey in the periphery.
They were able to do what they did in Gaza because Gaza is flat and isolated on all sides, with Egypt unwilling to intervene.
Even During the Assad period, Lebanon and a fight with Hezbollah after the beating they took in 2000 and 2006 was something they didn't wish to repeat. The only reason they are even attempting this current excursion is b/c this is the first time Hezbollah is fighting without an overt supportive Syrian supply line, and they thought Hezbollah was weak after all that fighting. A front opening in Syria would complicate every part of their calculation.
www.middleeastmonitor.com
