I see Assad as being between a rock and a hard place.
Iran will drag him down and I'm sure he realizes their ultimate aims to not match his, and thus he's to the Iranians a "Useful Idiot".
Despite all that, he has to keep up the bravado, but then he knows whats in store for him if in fact Syria does fire a guided missile at Ben Gurion Airport. His palace will be unidentifiable. And more!
He's no idiot and at the same time by making blustering threats to regain the Golan, he reinforces an overwhelming majority of Israelis including many from the left, that Israel would never be able to defend itself in the longer term if the Golan, was controlled by the Syrians. That then further impacts on the viability of a 2 state solution and so, things will drag on the way they are.
Putin I think is more of an ally to Israel but goes about it in a most unorthodox way. I wouldn't put it past him and Trump to have a longer term shared view and right now, it suits Putin to play the hand that he does.
Essentially, I think Assad would like to see Iran smashed but would prefer it doesn't happen on his turf. The way things happen over there, I wouldn't be surprised if both Assad and Putin are tipping off the Israelis re the Iranians but by doing what they do, deflects suspicions that indeed they are the "tipsters".
This script works over there as Arabs thankfully hate each other and as I posted elsewhere are openly suggesting on TV, that the whole Israel/Jerusalem/Palestinian issue is a furphy, If Hollywood wrote such a script the writers be deemed as nuts.
In the Middle East one has to think out of the square, bold and strong and the first person to blink, is finished.
Assad cant be seen as a "blinker". So he talks tough but boy, he wishes the Iranians would pi*s off, the Russians should pi*s off, the Palestinians should pi*s of and that he should go one as being the best thing since sliced cheese, running a backward country with him as some kind of Pharaoh.
