A senior Syrian official has taken a firm stance, declaring that normalisation efforts with Israel must be part of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and not carried out through a separate track. This directly counters Israel’s recent overture to establish formal ties with Syria and Lebanon, announced by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday, who also stated the Golan Heights are non-negotiable.
Israel’s push for new ties is attributed by its leaders to Iran’s perceived weakening after this month’s 12-day war, creating an opportunity for other regional countries to forge relations. This follows a period of significant regional upheaval, including the Gaza conflict, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Saar emphasized Israel’s desire to expand its “circle of peace,” while safeguarding its “essential and security interests.” This push for broader regional ties aligns with the 2020 Abraham Accords, which saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco normalize relations with Israel, though these agreements were deeply unpopular in the broader Arab world.
The Syrian official’s insistence on the Arab Peace Initiative, particularly the demand for Palestinian statehood and withdrawal from occupied territories, directly conflicts with Israel’s stated position. Foreign Minister Saar dismissed conditioning normalization on Palestinian statehood as “not constructive,” asserting that it would “threaten the security of the State of Israel,” illustrating the deep ideological chasm and highlighting that Syria will not agree to a separate peace track.