The Sunni-backed Syrian opposition is increasingly controlled by al-Qaeda-linked forces who have crossed into Syria from Iraq, according to statements made yesterday by U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. The concerns highlight the complexity of Syria’s three-way proxy war between Sunni-backed opposition forces, the Iran-backed regime, and regional Kurdish groups. Western intelligence officials are increasingly worried that the power vacuum in western Syria has permitted jihadist groups to seize the area and establish strongholds, increasing volatility in an already unstable region and endangering Israeli security. Analysts have outlined multiple scenarios under which security could disintegrate along the Israel-Syria border, ranging from a refugee crisis, border incidents and missile fire as have occured in the anarchic Sinai Peninsula, and all the way into deployment of Syrian chemical and biological weapons.