Israel’s deputy FM calls Syrian rebel leader a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel accuses the head of the group that led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria of being “a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes” because of his jihadist history.

Speaking at a press conference, Haskel holds up a photo collage of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), showing him as a member of 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,” says Haskel.

“These are terrorist organizations and this is a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes.”

Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in place of his nom de guerre, fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion.

He later set up the al-Qaeda subsidiary in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, which for a period was allied with the Islamic State terror group.

However, Jolani later broke with and fought against both jihadist organizations and eventually rebranded Al-Nusra as the Islamist HTS.

Since taking Damascus earlier this month, Jolani and his group have pledged to protect religious minorities and denied having plans to impose strict Islamic rule.

Jolani has also said “general exhaustion” in Syria means it does not want another war.

Nevertheless, HTS remains proscribed by several Western governments as a terrorist organization and is under UN-backed sanctions.