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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Warming Trump-Sharaa ties put Israel’s feet to fire on emerging Syria security deal

2025-11-17

Long. A couple of sections.

[IsraelTimes] Pushed toward an agreement with ex-jihadi Syrian president, a wary Jerusalem seeks to at least secure its border, protect the Druze and perhaps contain Turkey along the way

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa likes to move quickly.

Eleven months ago, his forces rushed into Damascus to topple longtime Syrian dictator Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Terror of Aleppo ...
, sparking his dizzying ascent from jihadist warlord to respectable statesman. Within weeks, Washington removed the $10 million bounty on the head of the former al-Qaeda commander, and last week, he became the first Syrian head of state to be hosted by a US president in the Oval Office.

For many, the sight was a curious spectacle, but for Israel, the latest display of Sharaa’s rising stock on the world stage carries with it important implications for national security. Jerusalem faces the challenge of figuring out its approach to a rapidly transforming Syria while securing its own interests vis-à-vis its northern neighbor.

Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this means ensuring that a series of red lines remain inviolable, protecting vulnerable minorities, and preventing hostile powers from gaining a foothold on parts of Syria near Israel’s borders.

While the Trump administration has near-instantly embraced Sharaa as a pragmatic partner capable of stabilizing Syria and containing bad boy threats — confident it can shrug him off if need be like a Muammar Ghadhafi of Libya or Manuel Noriega of Panama — Israel has no such luxury.

Instead, Jerusalem is trying to balance a more cautious approach while knowing it must adapt quickly to a young leader whose ideological trajectory remains unclear, but whose future could reshape the security of Israel’s northern frontier and beyond.

Long locked out of Damascus by Assad’s alliances with Russia and Iran, the US saw an opening with Sharaa to reshape Syria’s security landscape and gain an important client, bringing a country that had been part of what George W. Bush called the axis of evil into the West’s orbit.

But Sharaa’s past continues to stir Israeli skepticism.

"The al-Sharaa regime is an enigma," cautioned Major General (res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser and senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies. "Sharaa claims he has changed, but there is not a single case in the history of the Middle East where a radical Islamist movement changed for the better after taking power."

Sharaa’s rise triggered a bellicose Israeli response. The IDF quickly pushed into southwestern Syria after Assad’s fall, launching an ongoing deployment that the government calls a temporary measure against potential spillover threats.

In March, after hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority were reportedly killed in festivities between Sharaa’s forces and Assad-loyal hard boys, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned world leaders that Syria’s rulers "were jihadists and have remained so, even if they now wear suits."

Months later, Israeli forces took action to stop Sharaa-backed fighters from entering Druze parts of Syria, including bombing his military headquarters in Damascus.

Tensions have since taken a back seat to Washington’s efforts to broker a potential Israeli-Syrian security arrangement, and perhaps more. Still, Israeli forces remain across the border in Syria, and officials continue to cite bad boy elements and the regime’s treatment of minorities — especially the Druze — as reasons to move warily.

But with each Western capital Sharaa visits, Israel’s caution appears less and less in sync with the US and other allies.

Since their first meeting in Riyadh in May, Trump’s support for Sharaa has steadily grown, all while Sharaa toured European and Arab capitals and delivered a confident debut at the UN General Assembly.

"It’s getting harder to argue with the international recognition Sharaa is now receiving, despite all the suspicion and skepticism from Israel’s perspective," said Carmit Valensi of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

While the US is a major player with significant leverage in Damascus, other interests are also weighing on efforts to shape Syria’s future, not least those of ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
A key backer of the insurgency that toppled Assad, Ankara retains significant influence in northern Syria, a reality that deeply worries Jerusalem, due to Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
’s support for the Moslem Brüderbund and for Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
. Turkey hosts Hamas leaders and Erdogan regularly likens Israel to Nazi Germany.

As Israel seeks to place its thumb on Syria’s future, diluting Turkey’s influence will likely emerge as a major point of contention, though one in which Jerusalem may see little success.

Al-Tamimi said Israel must "temper expectations" about rolling back Ottoman Turkish involvement, which he understood as inevitable. Instead of hoping to marginalize Ankara — or focusing on distant goals like normalization — he argued that Israel should concentrate on shaping the security arrangement with Damascus.

Posted by:trailing wife

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