Israel and Syria in face-to-face meetings focused on security

After much military maneuvering, Israel has finally reached a point of face-to-face negotiations with Syria. “Exclusive: Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say,” by Timour Azhari and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Reuters, May 27, 2025:

DAMASCUS, May 27 (Reuters) – Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said.

The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the U.S. encourages the new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel and Israel eases its bombardment of Syria.

They also build on back-channel talks via intermediaries since Islamist rebels Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, said two Syrian and two Western sources, as well as a regional intelligence source familiar with the matter.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject for two nations with no official ties and a history of enmity. The direct talks and their scope have not been previously reported.

On the Syrian side, the sources said contacts have been led by senior security official Ahmad al-Dalati, who was appointed governor of the province of Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after the fall of Assad…..

Syria is ruled by violent jihadists, from its leader Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani (aka Ahmed Al-Sharaa) to his jihadist following, who have been accused of engaging in the slaughter of Christians, Alawites, Druze and other minorities. Jihadists have continued to kill Israelis through the decades, and break ceasefire agreements and other agreements. Regarding Syria, Israel immediately set up a defense perimeter on the collapse of Assad regime, despite the unreasonable demands and objections of its Arab neighbors. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and UN condemned Israel for a supposed “dangerous land grab in Syria” in December. Of course, it was not about a land grab, but about protecting the Jewish state from more jihadist attacks.

According to the Media Line, Israel managed to secure control over “the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria that was established as part of a 1974 ceasefire reached between the two hostile countries. In that buffer zone is Mt. Hermon’s highest peak, the highest point on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The territory guarantees strategic control over the whole southern Syrian arena, which generates an immediate threat to Israel…..There is no higher vantage point than the Syrian part of the Golan.”

Jihadists cannot be trusted or appeased, but now with Trump’s influence in Syria, combined with Israel’s buffer zones and the Israeli air strikes that have destroyed most of Syria’s strategic weapons stockpiles, Syrian President Al-Jolani is backed into a corner and has little choice but to cooperate with Israel. Reuters also reported Al-Jolani “confirmed indirect talks with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions, a striking admission that followed a Reuters report that the UAE was mediating such talks.”