By: Jerome Brookshire

In a stunning shift after more than a decade of war, the new Islamist-led Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa is signaling willingness to normalize relations with Israel as part of a broader strategy to secure the lifting of crippling U.S. sanctions, World Israel News reported on Tuesday.

According to a detailed Reuters dispatch cited by World Israel News, Syria is offering Washington a dramatic set of concessions—including guarantees that it poses no threat to Israel, access for American firms to its oil and gas reserves, and even the construction of a Trump Tower in Damascus—in exchange for the rollback of American sanctions. These measures, imposed during and after Syria’s bloody civil war, have left the nation economically isolated and struggling to rebuild.

“A key aim of Syria’s overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel,” Reuters noted, underscoring the political magnitude of the offer.

This unexpected pivot follows Israel’s military response to instability along its northeastern border. Following al-Sharaa’s rise to power last December, Israel took full control of the demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries, citing the need to prevent infiltration by terrorist factions and to protect border communities—especially Syrian Druze populations—after a brutal massacre triggered by a false accusation of religious blasphemy.

The World Israel News report noted that Jerusalem has declared its ongoing presence in the area to be a “security necessity,” with Israeli officials stressing that their posture will remain as long as the threat from Syria persists. Israeli forces have also carried out targeted strikes on hostile elements within Syrian territory in recent months.

At the same time, internal pressure is building within Israel to expand protection for Syrian Druze communities, whose plight has galvanized widespread sympathy and calls for humanitarian action from Israel’s Druze citizens—longstanding and loyal members of Israeli society.

In a rare press appearance in Paris last week, al-Sharaa confirmed that “indirect negotiations” with Israel are underway through various mediators. “There are indirect negotiations (with Israel) via mediators to calm and contain the situation so matters don’t reach a point where both sides lose control,” he said, according to the report at World Israel News. He also implored countries with close ties to Israel to “pressure them to stop interfering in Syrian affairs.”

As part of this diplomatic charm offensive, al-Sharaa has dangled the possibility of lucrative economic deals, including a high-profile real estate development that would reportedly include a Trump-branded skyscraper in central Damascus. Sources suggest the goal is to draw the attention—and possibly the favor—of President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East this week.

While a direct meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa is considered unlikely at this stage, World Israel News pointed to reports indicating that lower-level discussions between U.S. and Syrian officials may take place quietly on the sidelines of the visit. This comes on the heels of a previously unpublicized meeting in New York between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and senior American officials, despite the fact that both al-Sharaa and his ruling group, HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham), remain designated as terrorist entities by the United States.

Adding further intrigue, the U.S. quietly dropped a long-standing $10 million bounty for al-Sharaa’s capture shortly after his ascension to power—a move that some observers interpret as a signal of Washington’s willingness to reengage with the new regime under certain terms.

Jonathan Bass, CEO of a U.S.-based natural gas firm, recently held private talks with al-Sharaa and confirmed the Syrian leader’s ambitions. “Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country,” Bass told Reuters. “He wants peace with his neighbors. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel.”

As the World Israel News report emphasized, any potential agreement between Syria and Israel would represent a historic geopolitical shift in the region—one that could have major implications for security, commerce, and the ongoing debate over Iran’s influence in the Levant. Still, with so many moving parts—including Israel’s stance, Trump’s calculus, and the reaction of regional powers—analysts remain cautious about the prospects for swift progress.