The US administration believes the chances of advancing normalization between Israel and Syria before Israel's upcoming elections are "very slim," a source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post. According to the source, the Syrian government's core demand is for Israel to carry out some form of withdrawal from the buffer zone it entered following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime. US officials assess that this will make meaningful progress extremely difficult, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to approve any withdrawal from the buffer zone ahead of the October elections.
Defense Minister Israel Katz told reporters on Monday that Israel intends to remain in the areas it entered in Syria. "I informed the commander of US Central Command, Admiral Cooper, that we will not withdraw from the security zone in Syria," Katz said. The buffer zone was created after the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024, Israel argued that the agreement could no longer be fully implemented because the Syrian state was no longer capable of enforcing its obligations under the accord.
Israeli forces subsequently moved into parts of the UN-monitored buffer zone and several adjacent strategic positions, describing the move as a temporary security measure to prevent hostile actors from exploiting the power vacuum. Syria's new government and much of the international community have maintained that the 1974 agreement remains legally valid and have called for Israel's withdrawal from the buffer zone and a return to the pre-collapse arrangements. (Ed note: "very slim"? All Syria wants is for Israel to leave the buffer zone, give back to Syria the Golan Heights, and return to the 1967 boundaries. Come on, man! Always keep one eye on the state of Syria.) (Read More)
