Syria’s New Leader Signals Openness to Security Deal with Israel, Rules Out Recognition

Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in New York for the UN General Assembly, voiced hope Monday for a security arrangement with Israel to reduce tensions but dismissed the prospect of formal recognition.

Sharaa — a former jihadist whose forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December — met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of what will be the first address by a Syrian head of state to the General Assembly in decades.

Syrian officials say they aim to reach military and security understandings with Israel by year’s end, following years of cross-border strikes and raids since Assad’s fall.

“I hope that will lead us to an agreement that preserves Syria’s sovereignty while addressing Israel’s security concerns,” Sharaa said at the Concordia Summit on the sidelines of the UN meetings.

But he rejected joining the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. “Syria is different. Those countries are not Israel’s neighbors. Syria has endured more than 1,000 Israeli strikes and incursions from the Golan Heights,” he said, adding that Israel has violated peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.

He also cited global outrage over Israel’s offensive in Gaza: “There is huge anger not only in Syria but across the world, and of course this impacts our position on Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday there was a “new window” for peace with Syria and Lebanon following Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, Assad’s former ally.

Sharaa, who met US President Donald Trump in Riyadh in May, praised Washington’s recent decision to ease Assad-era sanctions on Syria, despite Israeli concerns. He urged Congress to lift remaining restrictions, saying they “burden people who have already suffered under the former regime’s oppression.”

Rubio, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott, pressed Sharaa to use the moment to “build a stable and sovereign nation” while discussing Syria’s ties with Israel.