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Israeli and Syrian officials held secret talks in recent days, including on the possibility of the new regime joining the Abraham Accords, Channel 12 reported on May 15, a day after United States President Trump urged Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the accords and normalize ties with Israel while promising to waver sanctions of the war-torn country.
The Israeli news channel said that the talks were being mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which played a key role along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey in encouraging the Trump administration to engage with the new Syrian government.
One meeting was held in recent days in Azerbaijan, where Israel was represented by the chief of the military’s Operations Directorate, Major General Oded Basyuk, according to the channel, which said that the commander met with representatives from the Syrian government, with Turkish representatives also present.
Sharaa confirmed last week while visiting France that talks were being held with Israel through mediators, though he said that the talks were security centered.
Trump on March 14 urged Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, as the two leaders met in Saudi Arabia for the first direct talks between leaders of the countries in 25 years.
The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization that Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan between 2020 and 2021.
The U.S. President later revealed that Sharaa was enthusiastic about the request, describing him as a “strong” and “attractive” leader.
“I told [Sharaa], I hope you’re going to join [the Abraham Accords] once you’re straightened out, and he said yes,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “But they have a lot of work to do.”
Channel 12 said that Israel views Trump’s lifting of sanctions on Syria favorably, albeit while maintaining a high level of caution, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of influencing the shaping of the northern border and future relations with Sharaa.
Israel even sees the possibility of Syria exiting the so-called “axis of evil” overseen by Iran, and even of it coming under the U.S. aegis, according to the report, which noted that the country even views such potential progress as possibly enabling a positive shift in Israeli-Turkish relations.
Israel invaded the buffer zone adjacent to the Golan Heights – recognized by Trump as a part of Israel in 2019 – right after the fall of the Assad regime last December.
Earlier this month, Israel escalated again by launching a series of strikes on Syria, including one that hit the vicinity of the presidential palace in Damascus. The strikes were a message to Sharaa in response to threats by the government against the Druze religious minority. The country had vowed to protect Syrian Druze, citing historic ties with its own Druze community.
While Sharaa appears to be eager to make peace, Israel will not likely accept any agreement that does not include Syria giving up its internationally-recognized claim to the Golan Heights. Israel could even ask for the additional territories it recently occupied, including the peak of the strategic Mount Hermon.
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