Trump credits Erdogan with Assad’s fall in Syria, claims Netanyahu ‘agrees with that’

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. (Jim WATSON / AFP)

Israel and the US “have an understanding regarding Syria,” says US President Donald Trump alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, while declining to elaborate.

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa “has been with us all the way,” Trump insists.

“I’m sure that Israel and him will get along,” says Trump. “I will try and make it so that they do get along.”

Israel’s interest “is to have a peaceful border with Syria,” says Netanyahu.

“We also want to secure our Druze friends,” he continues, adding that Christians should be protected throughout the Middle East and in Syria.

Trump makes sure to interject that it was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a leading critic of Israel and backer of Hamas, who helped topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria by supporting Sharaa.

“Bibi agrees with that,” Trump claims.

In fact, Netanyahu has sought to convey himself as the one who brought about Assad’s fall through actions during the war that weakened the Iranian axis he was a part of.

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