The Daily Populous Wednesday May 28th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by jpost.com and submitted by FudgeAtron

Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have, in recent weeks, held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said.

The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the US encourages the new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel and Israel eases its bombardment of Syria.

They also build on back-channel talks via intermediaries since Islamist rebels Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, said two Syrian and two Western sources, as well as a regional intelligence source familiar with the matter.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject for two nations with no official ties and a history of enmity. The direct talks and their scope have not been previously reported.

On the Syrian side, the sources said contacts have been led by senior security official Ahmad al-Dalati, who was appointed governor of the province of Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after the fall of Assad. Earlier this week, Dalati was also put in charge of security in the southern province of Sweida, home to Syria's Druze minority. Illustrative of an Israel flag and Syria flag, with soldiers and weapons. (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Reuters could not determine who participated on Israel's side, though two of the sources said they were security officials.

Three of the sources said there had been several rounds of in-person meetings in the border region, including in territory controlled by Israel.

Israel's foreign ministry and Syrian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

UAE confirmed mediator between Israel, Syria

Earlier this month, Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa confirmed indirect talks with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions, a striking admission that followed a Reuters report that the UAE was mediating such talks.

Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and took more territory in the aftermath of Assad's ouster in December, citing lingering concerns over the extremist past of the country's new rulers.

It has also waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that destroyed much of the country's military infrastructure, while at the same time lobbying Washington to keep the country weak and decentralized.

But the bombing and the criticism have subsided in recent weeks.

On May 14, a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Sharaa in Riyadh upended decades of US Syria policy, and signalled to Israel's right-wing government that it should work to reach understandings with Sharaa.

The regional intelligence source described Trump's engagement with Sharaa as a pivotal part of a realignment in US policy that upset Israel's post-Assad strategy of exploiting Syria's fragmentation.

The relative calm in May has also seen a reduction in tensions around Sweida, which saw days of bloody clashes between Druze armed factions, some of which enjoy Israeli backing, and Sunni Muslim fighters last month.

Amid the violence, Israel had launched a series of airstrikes, including one just outside the presidential palace overlooking Damascus, which it framed as a warning over threats against the Druze, an offshoot of Islam with adherents in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

While the direct talks are currently focused on joint security, such as preventing conflict and reducing Israeli incursions into Syrian border villages, two of the sources said they may help pave the way for broader political understandings.

"For now, they are about peace, as in the absence of war, rather than normalization," said the person familiar with backchannel talks.

Trump indicated after meeting Sharaa that the Syrian leader was willing to eventually normalize ties with Israel, while adding that it would take some time.

Sharaa has not commented on the statement, saying instead that he supported a return to the terms of a 1974 ceasefire agreement that created a UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

Syria's new rulers have made repeated efforts to show they pose no threat to Israel, meeting representatives of the Jewish community in Damascus and abroad and detaining two senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

A letter sent by Syria's foreign ministry to the US State Department last month, seen by Reuters, said "we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party, including Israel."

More recently, Syria's leadership has shown goodwill by approving the handover of a trove of long-dead Israeli master spy Eli Cohen's belongings.

Golda_M on May 27th, 2025 at 17:07 UTC »

As an Israeli... Sharaa and this regime scare the sh^t out of me.

I can see how from a western perspective it seems like he's rational and represents a chance at stability.

OTOH, there are videos of his justice minister publicly judging and executing women on the street for alleged fornication. These circulated as Nusra were asserting dominance over other Islamist groups and establishing their leadership over the coalition which later became HTS. This is nine years ago. They are hardcore, even by middle east standards. Bin Ladenists.

Recent attacks on Alawites and Druze demonstrated that weaponizing and unleashing religious zealotry is still how they exert control... and that mad max armies thousands strong emerge by the dozen within 24 hours for such recreational opportunities.

Secular people and religious minorities in Damascus are pretending to be Muslim and are scared to attend Universities, which have been overrun by aggressive and assertive Islamists. The Druze (who we here about via their Israeli Druze cousins) are marrying off their 12 year old daughters. This is to avoid advances of the "So you say Druze are Muslims" kind. Jihadi group chats were all about capturing Druze women. The fear is real.

It's hard to see how this works out well for us.

I'm definitely not against leaders talking. I'm also not closed to the possibility of peace. I just cannot fathom peaceful intentions from HTS, Nusra, Al Qaeda. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we can be friends. Maybe one day we'll gang up and beat on Lebanon together. That would be nice. But at the same time, I hope we have a lot of cannons pointed north and are highly vigilant and wary of surprise attack. Deception. Ruse. Diversion. War.

SeeShark on May 27th, 2025 at 14:12 UTC »

I'm crossing all sets of fingers for Israel being willing to retreat to their 2024 border and Syria not making a stink about the Golan. Israel/Syria normalization would be huge.

FudgeAtron on May 27th, 2025 at 13:25 UTC »

R5: after denying it for mo this Syria and Israel are in direct talks. This follows from their indirect talks in Azerbaijan