Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said on 23 September that Damascus is “scared of Israel,” signaling that his country poses no threat to Tel Aviv.
His comments came during a Middle East Institute event in New York and coincided with an ongoing UN General Assembly session that Sharaa is attending.
“We are not the ones creating problems for Israel. We are scared of Israel, not the other way around,” the former Al-Qaeda chief said.
“There are multiple risks with Israel stalling on the negotiations and insisting on violating our airspace and incursions into our territory,” he added.
Sharaa rejected talk of partition and said Damascus was supporting the rights of the Druze minority.
“Jordan is under pressure, and any talk of partitioning Syria will hurt Iraq, will hurt Turkiye. That will take us all back to square one,” he said.
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said at the General Assembly on Tuesday that the Syrian–Israeli deal, which has been in the works for months, is nearing completion.
“I think everybody is approaching it in good faith,” he said.
Israel is reportedly meant to halt its attacks on Syria in exchange for Damascus agreeing not to move any machinery or equipment near the border.
According to a US official cited by the Times of Israel, the agreement is “99 percent complete.”
Sharaa has previously downplayed the talks, framing them as negotiations for a security arrangement rather than a peace deal.
The interim president stated on 17 September that negotiations with Israel could produce a security pact in the coming days.
There have also been reports that a General Assembly session could see Sharaa possibly meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has repeatedly bombarded Syria heavily since the fall of the former government last year, and has established a widespread occupation across the country’s south – encircling the capital Damascus.
During clashes between government forces and Druze fighters in July, Israel struck the presidential palace, Defense Ministry building, and other sites linked to Damascus, framing the attacks as support for the Druze minority.
Thousands of Druze civilians were massacred by Sharaa’s forces that month.
Israeli officials have addressed Syria with strong rhetoric, despite Sharaa and other Syrian officials repeatedly stressing that they have no interest in a confrontation with Tel Aviv.
In fact, Syria has been cracking down on Palestinian resistance factions that for years were given refuge by former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government.
On 20 August, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris. It was the first meeting that was officially announced by Syria.
According to Haaretz newspaper, the meeting focused on “preventing” Hezbollah or Iran from establishing a presence in southern Syria.
Sharaa was the former deputy to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, before becoming the head of the official Al-Qaeda branch in Syria, the Nusra Front. The Nusra Front was eventually rebranded into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which took control of Syria in December 2024.
There was confirmed coordination between Israel and the Nusra Front during the early years of the US-backed war on Syria that began in 2011.