Trump challenged Israel but Don

When President Donald Trump met with the interim president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the meeting went beyond the “Hello” that the White House had told the journalists they expected.

Trump and Sharaa spoke behind the doors closed for more than 30 minutes in a discussion that including The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who received Trump at that time, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Subsequently, the heir prince, Trump and Sharaa posed for images that gave the meeting a sense of history and legitimacy, smiling widely together. It was a surprising image, since no US president had met a Syrian leader in 25 years, and even more because Sharaa, a former militant from Al Qaeda, is still designated as a terrorist for the United States government.

The meeting represented the most dramatic moment so far in Trump’s ongoing visit to the Middle East, which took him to Qatar later on Wednesday and will conclude in the United Arab Emirates.

Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace through AP

The meeting was the icing on the cake for supporters of the deepest commitment of the United States with Syria under the government of Sharaa, who argue that the United States policy is key to rebuilding the country as it arises from a 14 -year civil war. The reevaluation of the relationship between the two countries began in December after the brutal former dictator Bashar Assad was overthrown and Sharaa became the new leader of the nation.

The main American allies in the Middle East have been pressing Washington to lift the US sanctions that Syria that have made it difficult to send help and judicial businesses there. The group includes Qatar, which is also working to give the president a $ 400 million plane, a proposed gift that has become an important scandal in the United States.

On Tuesday, Trump announced that he would stop sanctions to give Syria “an opportunity for greatness”, a victory for the lobbying campaign. “There is a new government that we hope to succeed in stabilizing the country and maintaining peace,” saying.

But the closest traditional partner of the United States in the region, Israel, had opposed the idea. And some nation -line hard line security figures in the Trump administration have tried to delay the commitment of the United States with Sharaa.

Many observers of foreign policy now wonder if Trump’s turn of Syria shows Israel (and some of his aggressive allies in Washington) who lose significant influence, particularly when the president embraces the Arab leaders with whom he has ties in public policy and private businesses.

Trump himself suggests that he represents a positive break with the past, using his speech In Riad to denounce the “interventionists”, and several regional and American officials have told News themezone that they see the administration as more balanced than the past counterparts.

Even so, the details of the Syrian maneuver, and what the sources expect below, offer a more complex image of the current thrust between policy circles, even within the Trump administration.

Presidential Attention, and its comfort

For Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian-American activist involved in policy discussions, this week’s change had a clear impulse.

“President Trump had never been able to look at Syria … [and] The best for US interests, “as other concerns have dominated their presidency so far, Moustafa told News themezone.

In Saudi Arabia, Trump had time to do so, he argued, adding: “I have been advocating a meeting between Sharaa and Trump … I knew that if they met for 10 minutes, they were going to love each other as strong leaders, and that is exactly what happened.”

Trump praised Sharaa as “a young and attractive guy … with a strong past” after the encounter.

The measure reflects the president’s will to take large swings, even if that conflicts with Israel, an American official who works in the Policy of the Middle East argued News themezone.

“Israel’s goal in Syria is to maintain a failed state that can bombard forever … the sanctions assured what would happen,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to talk to the press. “The entire region, Europe and the world will be better with a stable reconstruction of Syria … No one has been so bold as to say everything [sanctions] They are dating as Trump did. ”

Healthy through AP

In significant ways, the Trump administration continues closely aligned with Israel. Echoing the Biden era, Washington has not yet challenged the presence of depth of Israeli troops in other countries in the region, even in Syria, or to significantly boost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit his devastating offensive continuous in the Gaza Strip, which US weapons allow. Trump also continued to recognize Israeli control from Syria, in violation of international law.

However, Washington seems unvolved by the arguments of Israeli officials that strengthened the Sharaa rule risks militancy in a neighboring state and the persecution of Druze, a minority group that also has a great presence in Israel.

Those who implement the change in United States policy towards Syria still include Trump assistants of significant scope to Sharaa, such as Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, Sebastian Gorka, the counter-terror director of the National Security Council of the White House, and Joel Rayburn, Trump nominated for the head of the Middle East of the State Department. According to the reports, some within the administration were surprised by Trump’s move yesterday.

Gorka, known by Stilling of fear About Islam, last month said Breitbart “The jury is still out” of the Syrian leader, noting that Sharaa had talked about implementing Islamic law in Syria. It contrasts with Assad by calling the former “secular” dictator, a representation that is disputed but was often used by the defenders of the United States commitment to Assad, including Gabbard.

Moustafa expressed his confidence that Trump’s preference would annul internal skepticism. “The president rewards loyalty, and anyone who is hindering his agenda usually moves out of the way,” he said.

“Look at [Mike] Vals, for example, ”he continued.

Trump transferred to Waltz, his former aggressive national security advisor, at a different position last month.

Moustafa, whose Emergency Task Force of Syria advised the Congress on US sanctions on Syria about the abuses of human rights of the Assad regime, said that the United States should now “help Syria become the democracy that deserves to be” progressing quickly to end the sanctions and allow the Central Bank of Syria to work.

“I do not know if it is a sign for the ancestry of restriction in the administration or if it is because the Saudi say: ‘We are going to buy billions in arms’.”

– Gil Barkollar, a member not resident in defense priorities

The executive branch has significant sanctions to apply, or resign, sanctions, but Capitol Hill also plays an important role.

Legislators have “very open eyes in Sharaa” and want to “achieve adequate balance between opportunity and risk,” said a republican assistant from Congress to News themezone, requesting anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The main Republican and Democratic senators Backed Some sanctions relief in Syria last month, and even aggressive commentators I have praised Trump’s passage. But the assistant pointed out that skepticism about Sharaa persists, just like a willingness to boost the United States to re -apply pressure on the damask through sanctions.

“Yes, at the end of the day, they do not move in our national security interests or are victims of their worst impulses, we can hit the door again,” the News themezone assistant told.

Sharaa’s critics care about the possible authoritarianism and the orientation of those who do not attribute to their conservative ideology.

In particular, the Assistant of the Republican Party framed skeptics in the Trump team to continue influencing decision making in Damascus. “There are always competition points. It is very clear where the administration landed,” said the wizard. “I don’t think that means that these other voices were lost, I think they reported that decision.”

‘Typical Trump Transactionalism’

Israel’s continuous restlessness towards Sharaa will probably continue to affect the policy of the United States, but observers doubt that it is a great obstacle to commitment to Syria.

“The Israelis see the government in Damascus with an exceptionally strong dose of skepticism,” said the assistant of the Republican party. But that is not necessarily the highest priority in Trump’s Washington.

In a reflection of the broader mood “America First”, the assistant highlighted the Russian military facilities in Syria. “While I understand that it is a security crisis for Israel, the United States has some bigger problems if we are talking about the port of Tartus, the Latakia airfield … United States also has national security interests,” said the assistant.

Moustafa framed the reconstruction of Syria as a useful for regional security widely and, therefore, is also a benefit for Israel. He argued that Netanyahu would only seek to complicate him for personal reasons and said that the Falcones in Washington who still support the sanctions seem focused on helping Netanyahu retain power through “perpetual war.”

Although the sponsors of a more modest American approach in the Middle East may be satisfied with the developments on Syria, there is little guarantee that the thought on that issue will extend to a broader policy, particularly given evidence that even if the unpleasant Trump movement to Israel, complying with other regional actors who want the United States to get deeply involved in the region.

Triumph, described As “President of La Paz” by Vice President JD Vance, he has used his ongoing trip in the Middle East to advance in the main sales of weapons to the Arab countries already Türkiye, who have deployed in regional wars for years.

“I do not know if it is a sign for the ancestry of restriction in the administration or if it is because the Saudites say:” We are going to buy billions in arms, “said Gil Barndollar, a non -resident fellow in the group’s defense priorities, which advocates a less boiling foreign policy of the United States and has seen someone designated to cross the administration work.” Real reasoning behind this can be the most typical Trumpian transactionalism. “

To trace if the figures of the administration that are identified as protagonists are wielding real power, “the biggest problems are China and Russia, which are much more significant than anything in the Middle East,” said Barndollar, who is also a researcher at the Catholic University of America.

By noting that the Trump administration is particularly driven by the president’s personal preferences, he noticed that even officials who are self -styled fast opponents seem mainly concerned about their greater political elevation and seem willing to evolve their positions depending on the opinions of their boss.

Even so, the problem of tracking in the region to measure the influence of the hawks versus the relative pigeons on the Trump E circl is the continuous diplomacy on a possible nuclear agreement with Iran, and if Washington is willing to “not only anger Netanyahu but … face the rejection of certain Israeli front groups here.”

“The current Israeli government is clearly very anxious to launch a military campaign Against Iran, ”said Barkollar, who recently returned from a visit to Israel.

He drew a link between that possibility and the influence of the rich kingdoms of the Persian Gulf that, in recent years, has become more excited about diplomacy with Tehran. “Those people have Trump’s ear; they are openly bribing it,” said Blandollar.

“Are they more important to him than the Israeli government and his lobbyists?” He continued. “At least you could make a case.”