Latest news with #SyriaIsraelRelations
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
After Decades of Hostility, Israeli-Syrian Relations Begin to Thaw
Syria and Israel have been locked in a state of hostility for decades, but the new authorities in Damascus are taking a different tack with their neighbor to the south. Syria's president, Ahmed al-Shara, is using diplomatic channels and engaging in indirect discussions with Israel, which the United States has helped mediate, to resolve problems along the border, according to Syrian, Israeli and American officials. The two countries have kept up contact even as the Israeli military has carried out incursions into southern Syria that raised fears of a prolonged occupation. While the goals appear modest, these are the most serious talks between them in more than a decade and a departure from the former government's animosity toward Israel. The negotiations reflect a power shift across the Middle East, where Israel and Syria now find they have common ground. Both share an antipathy toward Iran, which was a close ally of the deposed Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, during his 13-year civil war against an array of Syrian rebel groups. Mr. al-Shara led an alliance of some of those rebel groups that overthrew Mr. al-Assad in December. Israel and the new Syrian leadership also share security concerns about Iran-backed proxy groups, which they want to prevent from infiltrating Syria. And both Mr. al-Shara and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel have found an ally in President Trump. The United States has helped broker the back-channel discussions between the two countries, according to Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Mr. Trump's envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey. He has called for Israel and Syria to begin repairing their relations by signing a nonaggression pact. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
LBCI
30-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Syria-Israel talks on the horizon: US eyes broader Middle East peace agreements
Report by Toni Mrad, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi A potential meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington could soon take place, according to American Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who visited Damascus two weeks ago and met with al-Sharaa. Cooper, known for his role in facilitating dialogue between regional rivals, such as Bahrain and the UAE before they joined the Abraham Accords, said such a meeting is possible if former U.S. President Donald Trump personally intervenes. While the prospect of a direct encounter between Syrian and Israeli leaders remains distant, Cooper emphasized that the current priority is de-escalating tensions, a necessary step before formal negotiations can begin. Syrian affairs experts speaking to LBCI confirmed that the process involves several stages. The first stage, they explained, is focused on halting Israeli military operations inside Syrian territory to create an environment conducive to dialogue—a step reportedly already underway. The second stage centers on reaching a security agreement to restore conditions to what they were before December 8, when al-Sharaa assumed power following the collapse of the Assad regime. The plan would also reactivate the 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, which has remained a key reference point for managing military tensions along their borders. Israeli Channel 12 reported that the potential agreement could include Israel formally recognizing Syria's territorial integrity and pledging not to interfere in the affairs of the Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities within Syria. However, the status of the occupied Golan Heights remains a significant obstacle, with Israel maintaining its claim over the strategic territory and rejecting any suggestion of relinquishing control. If the initial security agreements succeed, they could pave the way for broader peace talks between Syria and Israel, with the possibility of full normalization on the table. According to Israeli media, such a breakthrough could also open the door for additional agreements, including potential normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Some observers suggest the implications could extend even further. U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack hinted that rapprochement between Damascus and Tel Aviv may eventually lead to similar diplomatic progress between Israel and Lebanon, saying that Beirut could follow a path similar to the one Syria appears to be embarking on.
Khaleej Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
US envoy suggests 'non-aggression agreement' between Syria and Israel
The United States' new envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, called for a non-aggression agreement between Syria and Israel in remarks to Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Thursday. Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948, with Israel taking the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. Since the ouster in December of former president Bashar Al Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes and multiple incursions into Syria. Barrack, who inaugurated the US ambassador's residence in Damascus on Thursday, said the conflict between the two countries was a "solvable problem". To him, Syria and Israel could "start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders" to build a new relationship with its neighbour. Israel has said its strikes on Syria were aimed at preventing advanced weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers jihadists. It has also threatened further intervention should the new authorities fail to protect the Druze religious minority. Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa said earlier this month that his administration was holding "indirect talks" with Israel to calm tensions between the two countries. Restoring US ties Sharaa, who led the rebel offensive that toppled Assad in December, was once a jihadist leader wanted in the United States. Since coming to power, he has repeatedly pledged inclusive governance that is open to the world, and restored Syria's ties with global powers, ending decades of isolation under Assad. While on tour in the Gulf earlier this month, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, and said he hoped the country would normalise relations with Israel. "I told him, I hope you're going to join once you're straightened out and he said yes. But they have a lot of work to do," he said of Sharaa. He also called Sharaa a "young, attractive guy" with a "very strong past. Fighter". On May 8, Sharaa said in France that Syria was holding "indirect talks through mediators" with Israel to "try to contain the situation so it does not reach the point where it escapes the control of both sides". The United States has in recent months started rebuilding ties with Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze. Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, US and Turkish companies as it seeks to rehabilitate its war-ravaged electricity sector. US flag raised The agreement, signed in the presence of interim Sharaa and Barrack, is expected to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity and cover half of the country's needs. Barrack, who is also ambassador to Turkey, inaugurated the US ambassador's residence in the Syrian capital with Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad Al Shaibani, state media outlet Sana reported. AFP photographers saw the US flag raised at the ambassador's residence, just a few hundred metres from the US embassy in the Abu Rummaneh neighbourhood, under tight security. "Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop radicalism, improve relations, and secure peace in the Middle East," Trump said, according to a post on the State Department's X. The US embassy in Syria was closed after Assad's repression of a peaceful uprising that began in 2011, which degenerated into civil war. Barrack met with interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa in Istanbul on May 24, after the United States lifted sanctions on Syria. The meeting followed a meeting in Riyadh between Trump and Sharaa, who led the Islamist coalition that toppled Assad in December. The last US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was declared persona non grata in 2011 after defying the Syrian government by visiting a city that was under army siege and the site of a major anti-regime protests. In late December, a US delegation led by Barbara Leaf, the State Department's Middle East representative, held an initial meeting with the new leadership in Damascus.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Exclusive: Syrian leadership approved return of dead spy archive to Israel, sources say
AMMAN/DAMASCUS, May 20 (Reuters) - Syria's leadership approved the handover of the belongings of long-dead spy Eli Cohen to Israel in a bid to ease Israeli hostility and show goodwill to U.S. President Donald Trump, three sources told Reuters. Israel announced its recovery of the trove of documents, photographs and personal possessions relating to Cohen on Sunday, saying its spy agency Mossad had worked with an unnamed foreign intelligence agency to secure the material. However, a Syrian security source, an adviser to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and a person familiar with backchannel talks between the countries said the archive of material was in fact offered to Israel as an indirect gesture by Sharaa as he seeks to cool tensions and build Trump's confidence. Cohen, who was hanged in 1965 in a downtown Damascus square after infiltrating Syria's political elite, is still regarded as a hero in Israel and Mossad's most celebrated spy for uncovering military secrets that aided its lightning victory in the 1967 Middle East war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Cohen on Sunday as a legend and "the greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state". While Israel has long sought to recover his body for reburial at home, the return of his archive held for 60 years by Syrian intelligence was hailed by Mossad as "an achievement of the highest moral order". Israel has not publicly revealed how the archive came into its possession, saying only that it was the result of "a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service". Netanyahu's office, Syrian officials and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Syria's role in Israel's recovery of the Cohen archive. After rebels led by Sharaa suddenly ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending his family's 54-year-long rule, they found the Cohen dossier in a state security building, according to the Syrian security source. Sharaa and his foreign advisers quickly decided to use the material as leverage, the source added. The Syrian security source said Sharaa had realised that the Cohen archive was important to the Israelis and that its return could amount to a significant diplomatic gesture. Ending Israeli attacks on Syria and improving relations with the United States and other Western countries are vital for Sharaa as he seeks to revive his shattered country after 14 years of civil war. Israel regards Sharaa and his ex-insurgents, who once formed the al Qaeda faction in Syria, as unreconstructed jihadists. Israeli forces staged an incursion into border areas last year and have repeatedly bombed targets in support of Syria's minority Druze sect. This month, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates had set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria that included efforts to build confidence between the sides. There have also been other indirect channels for talks, according to two people familiar with the matter. In the talks, Syria agreed to measures including returning the remains of Cohen as well as three Israeli soldiers killed while fighting Syrian forces in Lebanon in the early 1980s, a person familiar with those talks said. The body of one of those soldiers, Zvi Feldman, has been returned, Israel said last week. The return of the Cohen archive came in the context of those confidence-building measures and was done with Sharaa's direct approval, the person said. Last week, Trump held a surprise meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia where he urged him to normalise ties with Israel and announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria. Syrian officials have said they want peace with all states in the region, and Sharaa confirmed this month that Damascus had carried out indirect talks with Israel via states it has ties with in order to calm the situation.
Al Bawaba
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Trump urges Ahmed al-Sharaa to normalize ties with Israel
NEWS Published May 14th, 2025 - 07:58 GMT A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) watching as US President Donald Trump (C) shakes hands with Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. PHOTO / SAUDI ROYAL PALACE / BANDAR AL-JALOUD ALBAWABA - US President Donald Trump called on Syria to normalize relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords, AFP reported on Wednesday. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
