Syria and Israel were preparing to sign a U.S.-brokered security agreement at the U.N. General Assembly in September until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed out at the last minute, according to a new report.
The agreement was the result of over three months of mediated discussions among U.S., Syrian and Israeli diplomats and would have provided a framework for peaceful Syria-Israel relations, which have frayed since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December 2024.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office flatly denied the legitimacy of the revelations, which first appeared in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Tuesday, calling it “fake news.”
“There were contacts and meetings under U.S. auspices, but matters were never brought to the point of agreements or understandings with Syria,” the office said in a statement.
Tuesday’s report confirms previous reporting from September, which suggested that Israeli negotiators proposed untenable provisions for the agreement at the 11th hour, derailing plans for the deal’s announcement at the U.N.
Reports have suggested that Israel has demanded an extensive security corridor in the southern Syrian province of Sweida and the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Damascus.
Both propositions are reportedly dead ends for Syria, which is angling for the reestablishment of the 1974 borders established under the Agreement on Disengagement and a demilitarized zone in southern Syria.
Sweida has been the site of enormous bloodshed in the past year as President Ahmad al-Sharaa looks to bring armed ethnic minorities into the fold and reestablish order in the country.
In July, Syrian security forces clashed with Druze minority members in what some human rights organizations have called massacres. Around 2,000 people, including more than 500 Druze civilians, were killed between July and August, according to reports.
The violence sparked several Israeli military strikes, both on Syrian government forces in Sweida and on government buildings in Damascus. Jerusalem has vowed to protect the Druze from what it sees as unchecked ethnic violence. Druze minority members are present in Israeli politics and in the military.
Israel has occupied much of southern Syria since the fall of the Assad government and has used the region as a staging ground to launch what it says are counterterror operations aimed at ensuring Israel’s security. Israel has launched at least 1,000 airstrikes and 400 ground incursions in Syria over the past year.
President Trump, whose diplomatic team has grown close to the al-Sharaa government, said Israel’s actions may “interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state” and urged Jerusalem to continue talks with Damascus.
