Usually when this newsletter links to pieces about archaeology, they involve finds from ancient Israel. But there are also impressive and important discoveries being made at more modern sites. One is the 17th-century great synagogue in Vilnius (formerly Vilna), currently being excavated in a joint effort by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Association of Lithuanian Archaeology. The Times of Israel reports:

Findings dated to the 17th and 18th centuries included parts of the synagogue’s women’s section, huge water basins used to ensure the purity of the synagogue’s ritual bath, or mikveh, and a giant pillar, now collapsed on its side, that stood near the synagogue’s bimah, a podium for Torah reading.

The new section uncovered by the archaeologists showed that the synagogue’s floor had been decorated with patterns of red, white, and black flowers.

The synagogue was burned during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, between 1941 and 1944, and razed by Soviet authorities, who ruled Lithuania from the end of World War II until 1990.

In a momentous meeting with the Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, President Trump announced that he is lifting sanctions on the beleaguered and war-torn country. On the one hand, Sharaa is an alumnus of Islamic State and al-Qaeda, who came to power as commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which itself began life as al-Qaeda’s Syrian offshoot; he also seems to enjoy the support of Qatar. On the other hand, he overthrew the Assad regime—a feat made possible by the battering Israel delivered to Hizballah—greatly improving Jerusalem’s strategic position, and ending one of the world’s most atrocious and brutal tyrannies. President Trump also announced that he hopes Syria will join the Abraham Accords.

This analysis by Eran Lerman was published a few days ago, and in some respects is already out of date, but more than anything else I’ve read it helps to make sense of Israel’s strategic position vis-à-vis Syria.

Israel’s primary security interest lies in defending against worst-case scenarios, particularly the potential collapse of the Syrian state or its transformation into an actively hostile force backed by a significant Turkish presence (considering that the Turkish military is the second largest in NATO) with all that this would imply. Hence the need to bolster the new buffer zone—not for territorial gain, but as a vital shield and guarantee against dangerous developments. Continued airstrikes aimed at diminishing the residual components of strategic military capabilities inherited from the Assad regime are essential.

At the same time, there is a need to create conditions that would enable those in Damascus who wish to reject the reduction of their once-proud country into a Turkish satrapy. Sharaa’s efforts to establish his legitimacy, including his visit to Paris and outreach to the U.S., other European nations, and key Gulf countries, may generate positive leverage in this regard. Israel’s role is to demonstrate through daily actions the severe costs of acceding to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions and accepting Turkish hegemony.

Israel should also assist those in Syria (and beyond: this may have an effect in Lebanon as well) who look to it as a strategic anchor in the region. The Druze in Syria—backed by their brethren in Israel—have openly expressed this expectation, breaking decades of loyalty to the central power in Damascus over their obligation to their kith and kin.