The process of the Syrian state’s disintegration and decline into bloody civil war was also followed by Israel with great interest. Official Israel did not hide its view, even if it refrained from giving it expression authoritatively or in any outright manner, that Bashar al-Assad was “the devil you know,” to whom Israel had become accustomed over the years. Therefore, Israel had no interest in his downfall. Some senior Israeli officials even took the trouble to explain that Israel preferred a weakened and bloodied Bashar in power in Damascus, focused on what was happening inside his country, over a victory by radical Islamic, such as ISIS. Indeed, many Israelis perceived the continuation of Bashar’s regime as the only guarantee that quiet and calm along the Syria-Israel border would be preserved and the only effective barrier to Islamic radical groups becoming established on the Golan Heights, such as had happened in the Sinai Peninsula. Russian's involvement in the Syrian civil war starting in September 2015 brought, with the support of Iran and Hizballah, a dramatic change in the course of events and secure Bashar's position in power in Damascus. However, while fighting in Syria subsided, Iran continued to expand the circuit of its influence in the region while taking advantage of the United States' lack of interest to play a leading role in the Middle East. Israeli military activity aimed at preventing Iran from entrenching itself in Syria raised concerns for possible escalation that might lead to a major conflict in the northern front of Israel