In mid-November, it was being reported that Israel-Syria talks were slowing to an impasse over Israel’s insistence that it wouldn’t withdraw its troops from the demilitarized zone between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.
Israel invaded the demilitarized zone in December of 2024, and last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu said a deal was possible, but conditional on Syria creating a new demilitarized zone inside Syria, the implication being that the old demilitarized zone would stay occupied by the IDF.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is now saying the talks are even farther from a deal than they were before, saying that “of course” Israel wanted a deal but claiming Syria had introduced new demands, without saying what those demands were.
Israel FM Gideon Sa’ar (image under Creative Commons license)
With Sa’ar’s comments coming just two weeks after Defense Minister Israel Katz said there would never be peace with Syria, the idea that Israel is the side looking for a deal is far from a foregone conclusion. Without confirmation of what Syria is demanding, it seems, as ever, that Israel is making excuses for the talks not progressing while they continue to escalate military operations inside Syria.
The Israeli narrative has been and continues to be that the Syrians are unreliable partners, though with the Trump Administration embracing Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, there has been a need to show an effort being made toward a deal, but not necessarily a deal itself.
Adding to the rhetoric against Syria is Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, who responded on social media to a video of Syrian soldiers at a parade expressing solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with the declaration that “war is inevitable.”
Chikli later issued a longer statement accusing Syria of “jihadist terror” and that the “lessons of October 7 must be applied” to neighboring Syria.
