According to the al Qaeda spokesman, toppling the Syrian regime is a step toward defeating Israel and taking over Jerusalem and the al Aqsa mosque.

Gadahn said Syria’s Islamist rebels must “place Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, Hebron, the Golan, and Haifa before your eyes, and hold on to the weapons and munitions which are in your hands, and do not hand them over to anyone, even after the fall of the regime, for the fall of the regime will be followed by battles and victories. And do not put aside your weapons until you have liberated all of Palestine from the sea to the river and made the banner of Islam fly high over all of the countries of the Levant.”