Israel Interested in Establishing Diplomatic Relations with Syria and Lebanon

Israel is interested in reducing longstanding hostilities with Syria and Lebanon and establishing diplomatic relations. On Monday (June 30), Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated this at a press conference held in Jerusalem, according to British news agency Reuters.He said, “We are interested in seeing new countries join the axis of peace and normalization while preserving Israel’s vital and security interests. For that, we want to normalize diplomatic relations with countries like Syria and Lebanon. However, the Golan Heights will remain under our control.”Objecting to this, a senior Syrian official said, “The Golan Heights is an inseparable part of our territory. There is no question of any concession here.”Amid ongoing unrest in the Middle East fueled by a two-year war in Gaza, Israel has carried out attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and ousted Iran-aligned leader Bashar al-Assad in Syria.Claiming that Iran’s position has weakened due to its recent conflict with Israel, Israeli leaders have said that now is a favorable time to build relations with other Middle Eastern countries.After Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco normalized relations with Israel in 2020. However, these recognitions have not gained widespread popularity in the Arab world.The Syrian official said the process of normalizing relations with Israel must adhere to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.That 2002 proposal stated that if Israel withdrew from occupied territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza, and allowed the formation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, then Arab countries would recognize Israel.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that establishing diplomatic relations with Israel is impossible without progress on the formation of a Palestinian state.However, rejecting Saudi Arabia’s condition, Sa’ar said making the establishment of a Palestinian state a precondition for normalization is not constructive. In May this year, Reuters reported that Israel had directly contacted Syria’s new government and held several meetings to reduce tensions along their borders.At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria three years ago. He met with Syria’s new president and called for normalization of relations with Israel.