Eighteen years ago, on a seaside balcony in Tartus, Syria, three muffled shots break the warm August air. The rounds strike the back of General Muhammad Suleiman’s neck; Bashar al-Assad’s personal confidant slumps forward over his dinner. But who could possibly have done it?

Also, the opposition leadership still up for grabs, and the faithless Haredim.

All in today's edition of It's Noon in Israel.

[https://open.substack.com/pub/amitsegal/p/its-noon-in-israel-it-was-israel?r=1gxt62&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true](https://open.substack.com/pub/amitsegal/p/its-noon-in-israel-it-was-israel?r=1gxt62&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true)