Tom Barrack: Syria hasn’t fired a single shot at Israel since Sharaa came to power and acted wisely by not entering the conflict
US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not care about borders or lines, and that Damascus acted wisely by not entering into conflict.
This came during a speech, Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Ankara, at a dialogue session within the activities of the fifth edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2026.
He addressed the transformation in Syria, noting that the US administration had adopted a different approach in its policy towards Damascus by reducing its military presence in the region.
He added: “We did the opposite of what has been done for a century… Yesterday, and the day before yesterday, we withdrew our last soldiers from our last base in Syria… This is extraordinary”.
He added: “We withdrew our last units from the last base in a country that was one of the most important countries that fought ISIS for many years”.
He stressed that Syria, which had problems with the Kurds and Druze, had close ties with Iran, and was in a long conflict with the world, has now become one of the most stable regions in the area.
In response to a question about the lack of any agreement despite Syria not carrying out any military actions against Israel, Barrack said: “Since December 8 (2024), Syria, under the leadership of President Ahmed al Sharaa, hasn’t fired a single shot at Israel”.
He pointed out that the Sharia has repeatedly emphasized that they don’t want problems with Israel, nor do they seek hostility.
He added: “Netanyahu said after October 7 (October 2023) that everything has changed… He doesn’t care about the 1967 borders, nor the 1974 borders, nor the December 8 (2024) line”.
The US envoy continued: “Syria acted rationally by not engaging in the conflict, and that is why the violations continue”.
Barrack pointed out that Syria had repeatedly declared its readiness to negotiate, and that it had acted wisely by not taking a hostile stance, claiming that “normalization between Syria and Israel may even precede normalization with Lebanon”.
