White House Pressures Syria To Normalize Ties with Israel Amid ‘Quiet Talks’

President Trump believes Syria may soon join the Abraham Accords, based on comments given to reporters by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday. The reasoning seems to be that with Assad out, this provides an opportunity to control the outcome and force Damascus to make peace with Israel.

After all, Syria under the Assad family was the single fiercest, longtime enemy of Israel, with a de facto state of war on for half-a-century, centered on the occupied Golan Heights.

Leavitt told reporters that Trump remains optimistic about expanding the peace agreement. She confirmed that the president brought up the issue directly with Syria’s new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa (aka. US-terror designated Jolani) during this Riyadh visit and Gulf tour. 

“One of President Trump’s main requests during his meeting with President Sharaa was for Syria to join the Abraham Accords,” Leavitt said. “Achieving a lasting peace in the Middle East is a core objective for this administration.”

Sharaa had reportedly told US Representative Cory Mills during a visit in April that Syria was open to joining the accords under the “right conditions.”

US Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack has also been bringing the pressure. He has recently referenced quiet discussions with Damascus underway, amid the reopening of the ambassador’s residence in Damascus – a first since 2012.

Barrack encouraged the international community to give Syria’s new leadership “an opportunity to prove its new direction.”

However, so far the government stacked with Jolani’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham members has turned a blind eye to massacres targeting Alawites, Christians, and Druze – along the coast and in Damascus and elsewhere.

Sadly, this whole ugly reality seems to be missing from White House statements. Why didn’t Trump name as a firm condition the protection of churches, for example, as a basis for dropping sanctions on Syria?

Just last week Mar Elias Orthodox Church in Damascus was attacked by a suicide bomber, resulting in the deaths of 25 people and scores more wounded.

Following the church bombing in Damascus, unknown individuals wrote “You’re next” on the walls of Mar Elias Church in Kfarboum, Hama countryside. pic.twitter.com/XSAoO3gIQW

— Beirut Wire (@beirutwire) June 22, 2025

What government is looking out for Syria’s religious minorities? Certainly Washington appears to have shrugged as Damascus’ new hardline Sunni masters engage in deal-making, and a blind eye is turned to their ISIS and Al-Qaeda past.