Sharaa returned from White House ‘full of himself,’ Netanyahu said to tell cabinet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Syrian Prime Minister Ahmed al-Sharaa returned from his White House trip this week “full of himself” and more daring, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

“Al-Jolani came back full of himself from Washington. He is beginning to do all sorts of things that we won’t accept,” he reportedly told the security cabinet last night, using Sharaa’s nom de guerre.

Netanyahu also claimed that Sharaa “wants to bring Russian forces to the border,” according to Kan.

“He came back smelling of perfume,” Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly said, referring to a moment when US President Donald Trump sprayed Sharaa with a perfume.

Israeli troops took up several positions in southwestern Syria following the fall of the Bashar Assad regime last year, in what Jerusalem has said is a temporary security measure.

While Washington is keen to eventually normalize ties between Israel and Syria, the latter is aiming first at a security deal, with the condition that Israeli troops withdraw from its territory.

Sharaa told The Washington Post earlier this week that during his Monday meeting with the US president, “we found that Mr. Trump supports our perspective as well, and he will push as quickly as possible to reach a solution for this.”

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.