Syrian activist tells Knesset Sharaa told him chance for Israel ties is ‘unique opportunity’

Against the backdrop of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington and public optimism about potentially expanding the Abraham Accords normalization agreements, a Syrian activist and a Saudi Arabian journalist make a rare visit to the Knesset to speak at the inaugural conference of a parliamentary lobby aimed at advancing a regional security arrangement.

Earlier today, Syrian businessman and political activist Shadi Martini and Saudi journalist Abdalaziz Alkhamis attended a caucus of the Lobby for Advancing a Regional Security Arrangement, which was jointly founded by opposition MKs Ram Ben Barak, Gilad Kariv, and Alon Schuster.

Speaking about new opportunities for cooperation between Israel and the new Syrian government, Martini — who fled Syria during its civil war in 2012 — told lawmakers at the conference that he had an “interesting meeting” with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa about two weeks ago.

“I was with two other colleagues, one is a priest, and one is a rabbi… We entered the presidential palace in Damascus. I really appreciated that meeting. It went on for two hours, and the topic of Israel was dominant,” he said.

“One thing that stuck with me that President al-Sharaa said was: ‘We only have these opportunities one time every 100 years, it’s a very unique opportunity — but the window will not always stay open.'”

Addressing the prospect of Saudi-Israel normalization, Alkhamis said, “From the Saudi lens” the fate of Palestinians in Gaza “lies [at] the heart of the matter.”

“No state can expect to be impressed when our people next door are encaged and disenfranchised. Normalization from Saudi Arabia’s perspective is not merely a dual agreement, but a regional realignment, and such realignment must include a credible and real path to Palestinian sovereignty.”

“From Riyadh to Abu Dhabi, the lesson is not about who won the battle, but what comes after,” he said.

Also speaking at the conference, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that if Sharaa were to take demands for the Golan Heights off the table in a potential peace agreement, he intends for Israel to lead a regional effort to rebuild his country.

“I told the Emiratis in Abu Dhabi: We will know how to build a complete regional coalition around [Sharaa] that will assist in the reconstruction of Syria if he takes the Golan Heights issue out of the equation,” Lapid declared.

Last week, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Israel is interested in expanding “the circle of peace,” including with Syria and Lebanon, adding that the Golan Heights “will remain part of Israel” under any future peace agreement.