Friday 16/May/2025 – 02:05 PM
According to press reports, Israel recently had secret talks with Syrian officials, which dealt with among other things that the new Syrian regime may join Abraham agreements and normalize relations with Tel Aviv, according to the Times of Israel.
Talks between Israel and Syria
The Israeli Channel 12 reported that the meetings take place through the media of the United Arab Emirates, within the framework of broader regional moves led by Abu Dhabi, while a report to the Haaretz newspaper reported that mediation was carried out by Qatar, and that the talks have been ongoing for several months.
Last week, Syrian President Ahmed Al -Shara confirmed the existence of security talks taking place through intermediaries, without commenting on the issue of normalizing diplomatic relations.
According to Channel 12, one of the meetings was held in Azerbaijan, in the presence of the head of the Israeli Army Operations Authority, Major General Oudid Basyouq, and representatives of the new Syrian government, in addition to Turkish participants.
In a remarkable development, US President Donald Trump, during his meeting with Sharia in Riyadh on Wednesday, called on Syria to join Abraham’s agreements, in the first direct meeting between the leaders of the two countries in 25 years.
Trump later told reporters that the Sharia showed his support for the idea, saying that he expressed his hope that Syria would join as soon as its internal conditions arranged, adding that it had a lot of work.
Israel views with a positive eye to Trump’s decision to lift the sanctions on Syria, despite the continuing caution, and does not rule out the possibility of influencing the demarcation of the northern borders with Syria, and building future relations with it.
This transformation represents a major change in the position of Israel, which previously excluded any constructive dealing with Sharia, due to his jihadist background, as he was a former leader of the local al -Qaeda branch in Syria, and Tel Aviv had previously classified him as a terrorist.
However, according to the report, Israel is seeing a possibility of Syria’s exit from the axis of evil subject to Iran’s influence, and perhaps its transfer to the American alliance, which may reflect positively on its strained relations with Türkiye as well.
The London Times newspaper reported earlier that Washington and the Gulf states were seeking to remove Syria from Iranian influence, especially since Tehran was the main ally of the former regime led by Bashar al -Assad during the civil war.
At the same time, Türkiye has increased its interference in the Syrian issue, and provided support for rebel factions that were loyal to Sharia during the armed conflict.
Israel still shows its reservation to the rapid recognition of the new government in Damascus, due to its deep skepticism in the intentions of Sharia, which until recently was included on the list of wanted persons in the United States, with a reward of $ 10 million for information that leads to his arrest.
While Israeli military operations have continued inside Syria since the overthrow of the Assad regime, Israel continues to target what it describes as military sites belonging to the previous regime, with ground forces at several points close to the border with the Golan.
