US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025. (Jim WATSON / POOL / AFP)
(JTA) — In a meeting with Syria’s new leader, President Donald Trump praised him and urged him to establish ties with Israel.
Trump, who is visiting the Middle East this week, also castigated Gaza’s leaders. The enclave was governed by Hamas prior to its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people. Trump has also called for an end to the war.
“In Gaza, my administration shares the hope of so many in this region for a future of safety and dignity of the Palestinian people, but that cannot happen as long as Gaza’s leaders take delight in raping, torturing and murdering innocent people,” he said.
Trump also announced on Wedensday that the United States would lift sanctions on Syria. Before the collapse of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s government in December, the country was an Iranian client and seen as an adversary to the United States. Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former terrorist leader with ties to ISIS and al-Qaeda, has since taken the reins of government and worked to project a moderate image.
Trump reportedly praised al-Sharaa, whom he met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
Trump is not visiting Israel on the trip — which has contributed to Israeli fears that he is sidelining the country. But he has pushed multiple countries to establish ties with Israel under the framework of the Abraham Accords, the 2020 normalization deals between Israel and several Arab countries.
Speaking in Riyadh on Tuesday in front of Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman, he urged the country to join the Abraham Accords on its own timeline.
“With the historic Abraham Accords that we’re so proud of, all the momentum was aimed at peace,” he said. “It’s my fervent hope, wish and even dream that Saudi Arabia, a place I have such respect for… will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. It will be a tremendous tribute to your country.”
He added, “But you’ll do it in your own time, and that’s what I want and that’s what you want.”
Trump also reportedly conveyed a similar message to al-Sharaa. If Syria joins the Abraham Accords, it would mark a far greater change than for the Gulf states that signed the deals in 2020. Syria and Israel are neighboring states and have fought a series of wars, though they have not fought directly in half a century. Syria also provided a weapons corridor for Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group, and hosted Iranian officials.
Israel took control of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it. Previous Israeli-Syrian peace talks discussed returning the plateau to Syria, but did not bear fruit. Since al-Sharaa took over the government, Israel occupied an expanded swath of Syrian territory on the border in order to create a buffer zone, which Syria has protested.
