As the United States seeks to activate the joint Syrian-Israeli Mechanism Committee and invite it to meet again within the next two weeks, political sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is further disputing with Washington over Damascus.
The government considers the US policy in Syria as “silly and not compatible with the nature of the broiling Middle East,” the sources said.
According to far-right newspaper Makor Rishon, “Israel expressed frustration with the US administration's policy in Syria, including Washington’s support and confidence in the rule of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who has not yet proven he cleared his past associated to the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.”
Misgav Institute Fellow, Dr. Elie Klutstein, wrote that Washington is looking out for its own interests in Syria while placing Israel's security interests on the sidelines.
Klutstein said the Israeli government should confront Washington to insist on its interests at any cost.
Israel fears the new regime in Syria succeeds at consolidating itself. Tel Aviv bets on an ethnically and sectarian fragmented country and could not support the idea of a “united Syria.”
Israel is particularly angered by an agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government in the north, that would guarantee the unity of the Syrian territory.
Today, Israel also fears al-Sharaa government will reach a similar agreement with the Druze in the province of Sweida, south of the country.
The majority of Druze leaders in the south are concerned with the unity of Syria, and are ready to ink an agreement with the government in return of guarantees that attacks by its forces will not be repeated.
The leaders also argue that only a small Druze community opposes al-Sharaa regime and therefore, will eventually succumb to an agreement if the government is serious in granting them minority rights.
Last week, Hebrew media outlets said the comprehensive agreement between Kurdish-led Syrian SDF factions and the Syrian government to integrate with the Syrian army is not an arrangement between two equal parties.
“This is a Kurdish submission to Ahmed al-Sharaa that happened after government supporters dismantled the SDF from the inside, and brought several factions closer to the regime,” the Hebrew media wrote.
Earlier, US sources said Türkiye informed the US administration it supports a centralized Syrian state and rejects any Kurdish canton in the northeast.
In return, Israel’s government conveyed to Washington its opposition to a centralized Syria, preferring a federal model.
Sources said Netanyahu is angered by the outcome in northeastern Syria and considers US Special Envoy to Syria tom Barrack biased toward Ankara.
The Israeli circles see Türkiye as the 'biggest winner' from the collapse of the SDF.
Therefore, the Israeli government reiterated that it will not accept Turkish troop presence in Syria and insists on protecting Druze communities in southern Syria.
Tel Aviv’s response to the agreement between SDF forces and al-Sharaa’s government was translated on Friday, when Israeli forces entered two locations in southern Syria: the Saida al-Hanout village in the southern Quneitra countryside and the village of Samdaniya al-Sharqiya in the northern Quneitra countryside.
An Israeli patrol, consisting of seven military vehicles, erected a barrier west the village of Saida in Hanout, before withdrawing from the area.
This development came while the US plans to invite the joint Syrian-Israeli Mechanism Committee to again meet in Amman within the next two weeks and resume direct official talks between the two countries.
The joint fusion mechanism -- a dedicated communication cell -- aims to facilitate immediate and ongoing coordination on the two countries’ intelligence sharing, military de-escalation and diplomatic engagement under the supervision of the United States.
