MIKE'S VISIT TO DAMASCUS

Accompanied by a Turkish driver and two lightly armed escorts, Mike had the opportunity to see firsthand what post-Assad Syria is like. The country was devastated. The scenes of poverty and destruction are heart wrenching. At one-point Mike's escort had to change the route to evade an attack by Israel.

Meanwhile in Israel chief of staff Herzi Halevi seems intent on evading a serious enquiry in the disastrous failure of the army under his command on the fateful Shabbat of October 7.