Israel is watching with suspicion and concern as the United States and several Western countries rush to rehabilitate al-Sharaa and erase his terrorist past.
The reception of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump was an unprecedented moment since Syria gained independence in 1946. The event carried symbolic significance far beyond routine diplomatic protocol. It became a significant test case for the possibility of reintegrating Damascus into the international arena after years of estrangement.
The meeting, described by many commentators in the Arab world as a “historic moment,” was not merely a public-relations exercise.
According to diplomatic sources, it symbolized the opening of a new negotiating track between Washington and Damascus based on the principle of “conditional openness:” American willingness to pursue cautious cooperation in exchange for Syrian commitments on regional security, counterterrorism, and shaping the post-war balance of power in the Middle East.
Al-Sharaa attempted to reinforce this message through a series of marathon meetings with political, economic, and financial actors in Washington, as well as extensive interviews with American newspapers and television channels.
The immediate outcomes of the White House meeting were as follows:
After the meeting, President Trump declared that the United States “will do everything in its power to ensure Syria becomes a safe and prosperous country,” adding that “the time has come to open a new page with the Syrian people.”
However, this openness does not necessarily signal the end of the sanctions regime. The Caesar Act, imposed in 2019, cannot be repealed by presidential order alone; it requires congressional approval, and Congress is still deeply divided on its stance toward the Syrian regime.
Senior Israeli officials confirmed that Israel is lobbying Congress to prevent a complete cancellation of the sanctions until al-Sharaa’s true intentions become clear and to ensure he does not allow Iran to operate freely on Syrian soil.
In recent weeks, large quantities of Iranian weapons have been transferred through Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon without any effort by al-Sharaa’s regime to stop them.
Senior security officials criticize the American approach toward al-Sharaa and the speed with which the U.S., followed by several European states, forgave him for past atrocities, lifted the multimillion-dollar bounty once placed on his head, removed economic sanctions on Syria, and helped bolster his rule. They are concerned this is all taking place despite his jihadist militant past in al-Qaeda and ISIS, and despite the massacres he committed in recent months against members of the Alawite minority in the Syrian coastal region and against Druze communities in Suweyda.
According to these officials, the invitation to the White House is the pinnacle of a process of “political whitewashing,” at least in Western eyes.
Al-Sharaa, until recently known as Abu Muhammad al-Jolani and leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly the Al-Nusra Front, which split from al-Qaeda), overnight became the president of the Syrian Arab Republic. He exchanged his jihadist military fatigues for a Western suit and tie, and this very same al-Sharaa is now welcomed in the Oval Office.
His White House visit came less than a month after another astonishing event: his visit to Moscow and meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
Al-Sharaa fought against Russia for years; now he shook the hand of the man most responsible for the destruction of Syria and the killing of hundreds of thousands of its citizens to protect Bashar al-Assad’s rule. Assad, al-Sharaa’s sworn enemy, now enjoys comfortable refuge in Moscow.
Turkey, the Gulf states, and other regional actors, are all competing for al-Sharaa’s favor. The only major absent party is Iran.
According to senior security officials, al-Sharaa’s new regime is weak and lacks the power to control Syria or impose order on the new militias and Bedouin tribes. Syria’s minorities, Kurds, Druze, Alawites, and Christians, oppose his fundamentalist and oppressive religious rule, especially after recent massacres against Alawites and Druze.
Security officials fear that al-Sharaa is deceiving the West, that he is a “terrorist in a suit” who, after the Assad era, intends to establish an even more extreme dictatorship and eventually unleash jihadist terror at a time of his choosing.
Even some Western countries, including Russia and China, remain cautious and condition their cooperation on al-Sharaa dismantling the thousands of jihadist fighters loyal to him who helped bring him to power.
At the same time, certain European leaders are attempting to curry favor with their domestic far-right by promoting the return of Syrian refugees who fled during the civil war. Showing confidence in the new regime in Damascus provides them with a convenient justification for advancing this policy, even if it blatantly contradicts reality.
For example, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced last week that he had invited al-Sharaa to Berlin to discuss conditions for the return of Syrian refugees. France’s President Emmanuel Macron seeks to secure France’s share of Arab economic opportunities linked to Syria’s reconstruction and hosted al-Sharaa at the Élysée Palace even before he visited the White House.
The truth, senior diplomatic officials say, is that there is nothing new in the world’s hypocrisy and self-interest. Yet it is difficult to watch so many states compete over how best to whitewash al-Sharaa’s image and ingratiate themselves with a man who was never elected by his people, and heading a regime still legally designated as a terrorist organization.
Therefore, amid this web of conflicting interests, Israel must remain vigilant, refuse to play the Western “whitewashing game” with al-Sharaa, and safeguard its vital security interests.
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