For the First Time in 25 Years, Syria Acknowledges Direct Talks With Israel

Israel and Syria are talking — and for once, no one is denying it. Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani met with an Israeli delegation in Paris on August 19, the Syria’s official news agency announced. The unprecedented encounter between Shaibani and Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer focused on “enhancing stability in the region.”

This was actually the second meeting between Shaibani and Dermer, but the first did not appear in the official press. The meeting — and the official recognition of it — comes amid widespread anger toward Israel for bombing the Ministry of Defense in Damascus, and against the backdrop of growing chaos around the country.

Israel’s Red Lines in Syria

Israel has laid down red lines for the new government in Damascus: no military deployments south of Damascus, and protection for the Druze community in the country.

The Syrian government crossed both red lines in July when it deployed its armed forces to quell unrest in Suwayda — a Druze-majority region that has resisted centralized control since December. Reports revealed that government-aligned troops, including Bedouin militants, committed atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, and destroyed properties and looted homes. The clashes between the government-aligned forces and Druze militias left more than a thousand dead and triggered an Israeli armed response that struck military facilities in southern Syria and the Defense Ministry.

Damascus Defies Public Anger Toward Israel

In April, a Syrian polling center found that nearly 77 percent of Syrians believed Israel was Syria’s greatest threat. The Syrian people have been critical of their government for failing to respond to Israeli advances in southern Syria. “I’ve never witnessed such inaction from the people of this country. Not a word, not a position, not even condolences,” one person said after an Israeli incursion that led to the arrest of seven Hamas members.

When Syrian officials previously met with their Israeli counterparts, government representatives denied the meeting ever took place. After Reuters reported that Suwayda security chief and Quneitra governor Ahmad al-Dalati had been meeting regularly with Israeli officials to discuss de-escalation, al-Dalati publicly “categorically denie[d] his participation in any direct negotiation sessions with the Israeli side.”

At times, the Syrians opted to ignore reports of meetings with Israelis rather than outright deny them. For instance, Israeli media reported that Syrian and Israeli officials met in Azerbaijan in July during a visit to Baku by Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The Israeli report noted that Sharaa was expected to attend the meeting. The Syrians chose only to deny Sharaa’s presence at the meeting, but not that the meeting itself took place.

Publicizing the Paris meeting may be a deliberate attempt by Damascus to show its openness to a deal that discusses critical matters such as the future of southern Syria and the Druze question. At the same time, the disclosure may be a trial balloon from the government, hoping to gauge how the Syrian public might react should an agreement with Israel materialize.   

Washington Should Support These Talks

The United States should welcome and quietly support the continuation of these talks, hoping they can lead to de-escalating the ongoing tensions in southern Syria and offer both countries opportunities to improve their relationship.

The talks are also a good time to begin intelligence sharing between Israel and Syria over Hezbollah, which still uses Syrian territory as a corridor to transfer weapons from Iran to Lebanon.

Nevertheless, just because Sharaa is cooperating with Israel, Damascus should not mistakenly conclude it has a green light for its troops to commit massacres like the ones on Syria’s coast and in southern Syria in July. The United States should firmly pressure Sharaa to hold perpetrators accountable and put in place legal mechanisms to protect minorities in Syria, which would balance the centralization of power in Sharaa’s hands. Protecting minorities is essential to preventing a renewed outbreak of violence in Syria, which would open the way for Iran to reassert its influence there.

Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Ahmad on X @AhmadA_Sharawi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.