Syria and Israel to restart security talks after two-month delay

According to Axios, the renewed diplomatic push came at the direct initiative of Donald Trump, who urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reopen the channel.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Syrian and Israeli officials are expected to meet in Paris on Monday for U.S.-mediated talks aimed at reviving a stalled security dialogue focused on the Israel-Syria border, according to a report by Axios.

The discussions, scheduled to last two days, are set to bring together Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter.

The United States will serve as mediator, with the effort led by President Donald Trump’s Syria envoy, Tom Barrack.

The talks mark the first formal engagement between the sides in roughly two months, after negotiations were suspended amid wide differences over core issues and the departure of Israel’s previous chief negotiator, former minister Ron Dermer.

Axios reported that the renewed diplomatic push came at the direct initiative of Donald Trump, who urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reopen the channel.

According to the report, the Trump administration views the negotiations as part of a broader effort to stabilize the security situation along the Israel-Syria frontier.

The agenda is expected to focus on a potential security arrangement that would include demilitarization measures in southern Syria, alongside discussions over an Israeli pullback from areas entered after the collapse of the Assad regime.

Netanyahu agreed to resume talks following a recent meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, while making clear that Israel’s security requirements would remain central to any agreement.

In preparation for the Paris meeting, Netanyahu appointed a new Israeli negotiating team headed by Leiter.

Additional Israeli participants named in the report include Netanyahu’s military adviser, Gen. Roman Gofman, and acting National Security Adviser Gill Reich. The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on the planned talks, Axios said.

If held as planned, the Paris meeting would represent a renewed U.S. effort to advance limited security understandings between Israel and Syria, even as significant gaps remain between the two sides.