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Syria is Normalizing Ties With Israel, Here’s Why – Analysis

By Robert Inlakesh | The Palestine Chronicle | January 7, 2026

On January 6, 2026, a joint statement was published by the US State Department, affirming that the Israelis and Syrians had established a “joint fusion mechanism”. Despite being labeled an official normalization deal, this mechanism works as a soft normalization arrangement.

As the topic of Syrian normalization is often one that triggers a rather aggressive reaction from all sides, it is important to cut through the propaganda to establish what just happened.

As a product of a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials in Paris, with the participation of the United States, both Damascus and Tel Aviv have agreed to a quasi-normalization deal of sorts.

The joint statement that was published on the US State Department website makes the issue extremely clear: a “joint fusion mechanism”, or “dedicated communication cell”, has now been established. This mechanism includes facilitating Israeli-Syrian cooperation in the following arenas:

• Intelligence sharing
• Diplomatic engagement
• Commercial opportunities
• Military de-escalation

Some supporters of Syrian President, Ahmed al-Shara’a, have been adamant that what was reached and is being pursued is solely to do with security issues and the issue of southern Syria. Today’s joint statement thoroughly debunks any such claims.

At the same time, no formal normalization agreement has yet to be reached. However, if Syria is directly opening up such communications and striving towards “commercial opportunities” with Israel, it may not be sealed with a signed agreement and ceremony that brings Damascus directly into the so-called “Abraham Accords”, but this would be, for all intents and purposes, a normalization agreement.

There is no longer any space in which reasonable people can argue that Syria’s current leadership has not become a US-aligned force that seeks further cooperation with the Israelis. It is a fact that the US runs the show. The reason why this issue has become so taboo to speak about is that there are many who simply do not want to accept this reality.

According to polling data published by the Foreign Policy political journal on December 6, 2025, only 14% of Syrians said that they support the normalization of ties with Israel.

92% of Syrians also answered that Israel’s illegal occupation of territory in the region was a critical threat to their security. Another telling statistic was that a whopping 66% said they had favorable views of the United States.

These statistics are very telling and can help explain a lot about what is happening publicly, as opposed to privately, when it comes to Syrian-Israeli relations.

For a start, the vast majority of the Syrian people are opposed to normalization, meaning that if President Ahmed al-Shara’a were to publicly attend a signing with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, it would certainly cause a stir.

In other words, in the interests of stability, reaching a normalization agreement with Israel is best kept out of the spotlight. On the Israeli side, this could also work to their benefit. Netanyahu understands that in the event of signing a formal normalization deal, he may enjoy a propaganda victory, but will also have to make small concessions on his ambitions in southern Syria.

By establishing ties with the Syrian leadership, in the absence of an official normalization agreement, it will provide the Israelis with the ability to maintain freedom of action inside Syria. Meanwhile, the loyalists to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham government in Damascus will be able to deny the deep ties established between both sides and sell it as a deal comparable to the previous disengagement understandings that Israel tore up in December of 2024.

Another takeaway from the polling data is that a large percentage of Syrians view the US favorably, which explains the rather contradictory takes of some Syrians you may be seeing online. A popular view is that siding with the US is actually a smart idea and that Washington will help Syria rehabilitate itself.

Despite the US overtly being Israel’s closest ally and fueling the genocide in Gaza, which most Syrians oppose, many still manage to delude themselves into believing that in the new Syria that has emerged, the US role is unique in how it has behaved historically and continues to behave in every other country on earth. This is simply a case of mass self-deception and is, in some cases, a protective mechanism that enables people to live safely under a totally illogical worldview.

Where Is This Going?

At this current moment, the Israelis view the government of al-Shara’a as weak and are even anticipating its sudden collapse. Tel Aviv and Washington-based think tanks are also becoming more critical of the current regime in Damascus, after previously celebrating its rise to power. This is largely due to the inability of Ahmed al-Shara’a to bring his own forces and allied militias under control.

From the Syrian military parades late last year, it is very clear that a large contingent of fighters on the side of the Syrian leadership are in favor of a clash with the Israelis and were even filmed chanting for Gaza. Although this won’t result in the HTS leadership backing a defensive war, it is meaningful insofar as it applies enormous pressure and sends strong signals.

This deal is also meaningless to the Israelis, beyond what they are able to force the Syrian side to deliver for them. In all likelihood, we should expect the regime in Tel Aviv to treat the new mechanism like it does its ceasefire with Lebanon. By this, it means that the Israelis will demand that their requests be met by Damascus, some of which won’t be possible, while they continue to act with impunity, whenever and wherever they choose.

There are a number of key components to any security deal that may be signed in the near future between both sides, one of which will be the demand that the south of Syria be demilitarized. Damascus will agree to this, but is incapable of actually achieving such an outcome. The Bedouin tribes will not disarm as long as the Druze militias are armed, the villages and local militias of Dara’a will also refuse to give up their weapons, and so on.

In fact, if the Syrian authorities try to disarm their own people, who are under the direct threat of the Israeli occupation forces, it could even cause major destabilizing clashes. All throughout the country, organized militant groups, separatist movements, and local armed factions have refused to disarm.

The best the Syrian authorities have been able to do is to try to integrate many fighters into the ranks of their own security forces, which has already resulted in major issues for them; in one case, the killing of three US service members late last year.

There were even indications that an assassination attempt had just failed in the past week against Ahmed al-Shara’a, right before the latest round of direct talks with the Israelis was announced last Sunday.

Syria is also on the verge of a major conflict erupting to its northeast, with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with both the Alawites and Druze minorities now calling for federalism. While foreign powers have influence within these minority communities, they genuinely do not seem able to coexist in the current Syrian State, which is one that not only fails to protect their rights, but whose security forces themselves are filled with fighters who seek to exterminate them.

It is clear that Syria’s civil war is far from over; the only difference is that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) no longer exists, and Bashar al-Assad has been removed from the picture. Damascus used to be ruled by a leadership backed by Russia and Iran; now it’s ruled by a leadership that is backed by the US and Türkiye.

Ankara does have power in Syria, yet it has become clear that the US currently holds the major cards. So far, the Turkish government has failed to establish red lines and contest Israel inside the country, something that it needs to do in order to wield serious power. The US, UK, and even Israelis are the ones with the major sway at this current time, none of whom care to see Syria succeed for its own people.

All of this is relevant to the new Israeli-Syrian mechanism, as this deal is not one that the HTS leadership entered into from a position of strength. In fact, Damascus is being bullied by the United States and forced to accept realities imposed on it by the Israelis.

For Israel, it is a win-win deal. Either Syria fails to implement its side of the bargain and Zionism can continue to pursue its expansionist agenda; or, Syria succeeds and becomes more stable, plus it is on Tel Aviv’s side against its enemies in Lebanon and Iran.

For the Syrians, it’s a lose-lose deal. If they fail, the Israelis will batter them and they may even find the agreement further destabilizing the country; if they succeed in implementing their side, the Israelis will still act with impunity where they choose and instead of protecting their homeland, the Syrian people of the south will have no means of defending themselves.

Anyone framing this in a positive way is either lying to their audiences, lying to themselves, or both.

– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.

January 7, 2026 - Posted by aletho | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | Israel, Syria, Zionism