Israel said holding talks with Syria on al-Sharaa’s regime joining Abraham Accords

Israel has been holding secret talks with Syrian officials in recent days, including on the possibility of the new regime joining the Abraham Accords, Channel 12 reports tonight, a day after US President Trump invited new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the accords and normalize ties with Israel.

The talks are being mediated by the United Arab Emirates, Channel 12 says, also referring to unspecified wider regional moves being advanced by the UAE.

One meeting was held in recent days in Azerbaijan, it says, where Israel was represented by the chief of the IDF Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk. He met with representatives from the new Syrian government, with Turkish representatives also present, the report says.

Trump on Wednesday urged al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, as the two leaders met in Riyadh in the first direct talks between leaders of the countries in 25 years.

Trump later told reporters that Sharaa backs such a move. “I told [Sharaa], I hope you’re going to join [the Abraham Accords] once you’re straightened out, and he said yes,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “But they have a lot of work to do.”

Israel views Trump’s lifting of sanctions on Syria favorably, albeit while maintaining a high level of caution, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of influencing the shaping of the northern border and future relations between the two countries, Channel 12 adds.

This contrasts with Israel’s previous position, it notes, which was to dismiss the prospect of constructive interaction, with Al-Sharaa being branded a terrorist by Jerusalem.

Today, claims Channel 12, Israel does see the possibility of Syria exiting the so-called “axis of evil” overseen by Iran, and even of it coming under the US aegis. And it even views such potential progress as possibly enabling a positive shift in Israel-Turkey ties, the report claims.