Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an American rabbi who held talks this month with Syria’s Islamist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, tells the Kan public broadcaster that a meeting is possible between Sharaa and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US President Donald Trump’s help.
“I think the only way that would be a quick way is if someone named [US President] Donald Trump calls two people, the Israeli prime minister and the Syrian president, to come to Washington and sit for a few hours. That could change the picture,” he says.
“If Trump signals that he is going to stay involved and tell Sharaa, I am going to help rehabilitate your country, then anything is possible. Without that, it will go slowly, step by step,” Cooper says.
“It is correct that he is an Islamist,” Cooper says of Sharaa, “but Sharaa speaks about a future for his country that includes a united Syria with one army and equal rights. If he can do this, this will change the rules of the game.”
Recent reports have indicated that the Syria new government has not ruled out reaching a normalization deal with Israel.
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