As European and Arab leaders rush to meet Syria’s new leader, Israel calls for caution
Ahmed al-Sharaa is hoping to convince the world that he’s left his jihadist past behind, but FM Gideon Sa’ar and other senior officials are not persuaded
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
As Syria’s new government strives to gain international legitimacy after overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime, Western countries seem open to giving a chance to the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.
At the same time, Israel is focused on making sure its allies don’t give a free pass to a man who led a brutal jihadist organization.
“It’s too early to believe this rebrand,” an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock became the most senior Western diplomats to visit the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Assad last month.
The two diplomats warned Sharaa that the transfer of power must be peaceful and inclusive. “This requires a political dialogue involving all ethnic and religious groups, involving men and equally women,” said Baerbock.
She also told Sharaa that the European Union stood ready to support the transition in Syria but cautioned that “Europe will not finance new Islamist structures.”
Barrot met with Christian leaders in the country to discuss the transition toward a democratic Syria.
In Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is leading an effort to press the world to treat Sharaa’s government with extreme suspicion, while warning that European countries are too eager to overlook any potential problematic aspects of the new government in order to send back the millions of refugees who have fled the fighting since 2011.
“The world is talking about ‘an orderly change of government in Syria,'” he told a conference last month. “But it’s not like a new government that today controls all of Syria was democratically elected.
“This is a terrorist gang that was previously in Idlib and took over the capital Damascus and other areas. The world would very much like to see them as a new and stable government because the countries want to return the refugees on their territory to Syria. But that’s not the case.”
Sa’ar argued that minorities like Alawites, Kurds, and Christians are threatened by Sharaa’s new government.
“This is an Islamist government that will try to achieve unified control over all of Syria,” he said.
Also last month, Sa’ar’s deputy Sharren Haskel accused Sharaa of being “a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes.”
Speaking at a press conference, Haskel held up a photo collage of Sharaa, showing his past as a member of various jihadist organizations.
“It is important to avoid falling for the attempt to whitewash jihadist [groups] in Syria. We know who they are and their true nature, even if they change their names, and we understand how dangerous they are to the West,” said Haskel.
Sharaa, now Syria’s de facto leader, joined al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2003, where he was captured by US troops. After his release, he created the jihadist Al-Nusra Front to fight against Assad in Syria.
The US State Department designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, and placed a $10 million bounty on his head four years later. Sharaa eventually broke his organization’s ties with al-Qaeda, and since 2017 has been working to present HTS as a moderate organization focused on governance and toppling Assad.
The US removed the bounty in December amid an attempt to improve relations with the new Syrian leadership.
Since coming to power in December, Sharaa has preached religious coexistence and promised not to enforce strict adherence to Islamic fundamental principles. He also traded his military garb for suits, and dropped his nom de guerre, Abu Muhammad al-Julani.
Israeli leaders besides the foreign minister have also been warning against too readily buying into Sharaa’s ostensible transformation.
During a visit to the recently captured peak of Mount Hermon, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the new Syrian rulers “pretend to present a moderate image, but belong to the most extreme Islamic sects.”
Meanwhile, Arab diplomats have hurried to Damascus to meet Sharaa. After a sit-down in late December, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed support for “a government that represents all spectrums in Syria,” as well as for “the drafting of a new constitution,” according to official Jordanian TV.
“We agree to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their state,” he was quoted as saying, adding that “the Arab countries agree to support Syria at this stage without any external interference.”
Senior officials from Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also been to Damascus to meet Sharaa.
Ukraine too has rushed to reset ties after the fall of Assad, who allied himself closely with Russia. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met Sharaa last week, and President Volodymyr Zelensky sent 500 tons of grain to Syria and said Kyiv could contribute to stabilizing the country.
Though HTS leaders celebrated the devastating Hamas assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, the new Syrian leadership stresses that it is not interested in a fight with Israel.
Sharaa said that his new regime is “committed to the 1974 agreement and we are prepared to return the UN [monitors],” referring to peacekeeping forces that manned the demilitarized zone alongside Syrian troops.
“We do not want any conflict, whether with Israel or anyone else, and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks. The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions,” Sharaa told The Times of London earlier this month.
The new governor of Damascus has also emphasized that the newly installed government wants to have cordial relations with Israel. “We have no fear toward Israel, and our problem is not with Israel,” Maher Marwan told NPR last month. “There exists a people who want coexistence. They want peace. They don’t want disputes.”
“And we don’t want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel’s security or any other country’s security,” he said. “We want peace, and we cannot be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone.”
Israel has also signaled its desire to have “correct ties” with the new regime, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in early December. But “if this regime allows Iran to reestablish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.”
AFP contributed to this report.
