Report: Longtime rivals Israel and Syria begin secret negotiations

A senior Syrian security official offered a more restrictive characterization, describing them as confined “strictly to security-related issues, focusing on several counterterrorism files.”

By Jewish Breaking News

UAE officials have reportedly brokered secret talks between Israel and Syria, breaking decades of hostile silence between the longtime enemies.

Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa continues facing significant challenges uniting his country’s fractured security apparatus after 14 years of civil war ended with the downfall of former President Bashar al-Assad last December.

After Assad escaped to Russia, Israel has stepped up its longtime military campaign against Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists holed up in Syria by holding strategic positions at Mount Hermon.

The IDF has also conducted strikes in protection of Syria’s Druze community that has recently come under sectarian violence under the new regime.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the strikes while simultaneously signaling peaceful intentions toward Israel.

Syrian officials have met with Jewish community representatives and detained Palestinian Islamic Jihad members involved in the October 7, 2023 massacre against Israel.

Damascus views the UAE’s established 2020 diplomatic ties with Israel as a valuable pathway given the absence of direct Syrian-Israeli relations, leading to secret negotiations between the two longtime rivals shortly after President Sharaa visited Abu Dhabi on April 13, Reuters reports.

The delicate negotiations bring together Syria’s intelligence officers and veterans of Israel’s intelligence community.

Characterizations of the talks vary significantly, with one source telling Reuters discussions center on “technical matters” while noting there exists “no limit to what may eventually be discussed.”

However, a senior Syrian security official offered a more restrictive characterization, describing them as confined “strictly to security-related issues, focusing on several counterterrorism files.”

Ahmed al-SharaaBenjamin Netanyahupeace talksSyria