In an interview with the Washington Post, Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses various issues, from his relationship with the United States and Russia to negotiations with Israel for its “withdrawal” from Syria.
This is precisely what we need to focus on. Ahmed al-Sharaa argues that “Israel’s advances in Syria are not driven by security concerns, but by its expansionist ambitions.”
Al-Sharaa claims that Syria and Israel are engaged in “direct talks” and that Syria’s demands, which are also supported by the United States, are basically that Israel withdraw to its positions prior to December 8, 2024, and that southern Syria not be demilitarized.
“Talking about demilitarizing an entire region will be difficult, because if there were chaos, who would protect it? If this demilitarized zone were used by some parties as a launching pad to attack Israel, who would take responsibility for that?” says al-Sharaa.
Well, what are Israel’s legitimate concerns?
- Can a person really go from being a cutthroat jihadist to a moderate politician overnight? Is this the truth or is it the greatest dissimulation (Taqiyya) of all time?
- Returning the occupied land to Israel means giving up a fundamental buffer zone, or better still, a security zone aimed at preventing another October 7 and any attacks from Syrian territory. Leaving this task to al-Sharaa’s men is not even contemplated in the deepest corners of Israeli minds.
- Israel’s demand to demilitarize the entire south of Syria should also be seen in this context. Ahmed al-Sharaa disagrees, but the risk of a Turkish contingent being positioned in that area is too great to be underestimated.
- The Syrian leader is clearly a man of Erdogan, that is, a man of the Muslim Brotherhood, just like Hamas. Can Israel allow a person with this pedigree to position his armed men on the border with Israel?
Al-Sharaa tells the Washington Post: “The United States is with us in these negotiations and many international parties support our position on this issue. Today we discovered that Mr. Trump also supports our position and will exert pressure as quickly as possible to reach a solution.”
Who will Trump put pressure on? Israel? Isn’t it enough that he saved Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran? Now he also wants to make Erdogan happy by allowing him to realize (directly or indirectly) his dream of attacking the Jewish state?
Israel can do without relations with Ahmed al-Sharaa just as it has done without relations with Bashar al-Assad. It is up to the Syrian leader to prove with facts that he is not hostile to the Jewish state. So far, he has done the opposite by attacking Kurds and Druze, close allies of Israel and hostile to Erdogan.
So, can Israel trust Ahmed al-Sharaa? I would say no.
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