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Syria and Lebanon Are Burdens for Europe, and Europe Must Take Responsibility
Syrian troops ride atop a towed military vehicle as they head toward the Syrian-Lebanese border following clashes with Lebanese soldiers and armed groups, in Qusayr, Syria, March 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Ending the American free lunch must extend beyond NATO and Ukraine, and into the Middle East. Europe needs to intensify its attention and deepen its involvement in Syria and Lebanon. Like Ukraine, the tenuous situations in Syria and Lebanon pose a greater, more immediate threat to Europe than the United States.
The futures of Syria and Lebanon are unknown. The collapse of the Assad regime after 13 years of war and the degradation of the terrorist Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, make already messy political and societal situations worse. The countries’ diverse ethnic and religious landscapes, displaced populations, terror organizations, a propensity for foreign interference, corruption, and poor governance are sources of instability and a cause for concern. Addressing, managing, and monitoring these fluid predicaments will require considerable time and investment.
For too long and at too great of a price, the United States has taken the lead and shouldered much of the burden in Syria and Lebanon. It has been a painful and costly experience. America suffered casualties. The US defense budget grew. Billions of US taxpayer dollars went to pointless aid. US diplomatic time, energy, and resources were drained.
The Trump administration inherited environments where the return on investment remains poor.
In Syria, the United States maintains a reported 2,000 troops (the largest contingency of the Global Coalition against ISIS) despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019. American soldiers conduct patrols in the vast Syrian desert for ISIS smugglers and members who attack shepherds and villages. American troops also assist with maintaining US-funded prisons holding ISIS members and their families, many of whom are European nationals.
American troops are in harm’s way. The March 6-10 massacres of mostly Alawites demonstrate the proclivity for sudden outbreaks of violence in Syria. The continued American presence makes them either an occupier, a patron of a specific group, or an obstacle in a deeply divided society consumed by retribution and insecurity.
In Lebanon, the United States (with France) monitors a failing ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. On March 22 and 28, Hezbollah violated the agreement by launching rockets into Israel. The previous week, the Lebanese government asked for further US-led mediation with Israel regarding “outstanding issues” despite not fulfilling its obligations to the ceasefire — removing the militia from southern Lebanon and disarming it.
The failing ceasefire is the second year-long diplomatic endeavor between Israel and Lebanon in three years that did not create lasting peace. The costly diplomatic investment complements a two-decade several billion US taxpayer dollar investment in the feckless Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).
American endeavors are not succeeding. These hazardous vanity projects should be terminated.
Syria and Lebanon are not national security priorities. An ocean and seven-thousand miles separate the United States from the two countries. The US ability to influence lasting outcomes in both environments is limited. The US and Syria have never enjoyed warm relations. The de facto government in Damascus with Islamist origins is not an improvement. How many more times must a US envoy visit Beirut to defuse an Israeli-Hezbollah escalation? The faces in Beirut change but the absence of accountability and agency endure.
The ISIS ideology is not disappearing because of American troops. It requires a regional solution. The United States cannot disarm Hezbollah. It requires the action of the Lebanese state and the support of the people. All the US tax dollars in the world cannot make the LAF an effective fighting force unless Lebanese society undergoes a profound and prolonged national revitalization.
The burden of monitoring and engaging Syria and Lebanon needs to shift to Europe. The reasons are obvious. Europe’s close proximity and recent history makes it sensitive to developments in the Lebanese and Syrian milieus.
Europe is the obvious destination for most Lebanese and Syrian refugees if their environments deteriorate. They will seek to join sizable expat communities that reside in Germany, France, and elsewhere. Given the problems created by sudden influxes of refugees in the past, it is critical for Europe to prevent a recurrence.
Effectively addressing the ISIS phenomenon is an utmost European security priority. ISIS targeted Europe multiple times. A significant number of European nationals languish in the US-funded ISIS detainment camps. Europe can ill afford an ISIS resurgence.
France’s historic relationship with Lebanon and role in monitoring the Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire make it a logical partner in facilitating stability in Lebanon. Unlike the US, it speaks with Hezbollah members.
It is long overdue for the US involvement and attention to Syria and Lebanon to be dramatically reduced. The two countries are European priorities. The burdens of monitoring and engaging Syria and Lebanon must shift to Europe.
Eric Bordenkircher, Ph.D., is a research fellow at UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development. He tweets at @UCLA_Eagle. The views represented in this piece are his own and do not necessarily represent the position of UCLA or the Center for Middle East Development.
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Iran Moves to Restore Ties With Bahrain, Egypt Amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iran has begun efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Bahrain and Egypt, signaling a potential shift in regional alliances as tensions escalate across the Middle East.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran has officially begun the process of restoring diplomatic ties with Bahrain and Egypt after years of strained relations.
Since Iran normalized relations with Saudi Arabia in 2023, Araghchi said Tehran has made several requests to renew ties with Bahrain, with ongoing efforts expected to soon yield positive results.
In 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Iran, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut relations after an attack on its embassy in Tehran, which was sparked by Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.
In 2023, Tehran and Riyadh reached an agreement in Beijing to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has taken further steps to strengthen its relationship with Bahrain. Last year, Araghchi met with Bahrain’s King, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, in the country’s capital to discuss bilateral ties and the latest regional developments.
Bahrain normalized relations with Israel, which Iranian leaders regularly say they seek to destroy, in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
As for Egypt, the country severed diplomatic relations with Tehran in 1980 following Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.
Araghchi said ties between the two countries have strengthened significantly, with regular high-level meetings and continuous dialogue.
Iran’s expanding relationship with Egypt comes at a time of increased tension between Cairo and Jerusalem, amid Israeli accusations that Egypt has violated their peace agreement.
Israeli defense officials have previously expressed growing concern over Cairo’s military buildup and armed presence in the Sinai Peninsula.
These concerns come amid escalating tensions between Israel and Egypt since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Cairo has demanded Jerusalem withdraw its forces.
While details about Egypt’s military buildup remain unclear, “satellite images have shown the movement of tanks and battalions that exceed the limits set by the Camp David Accords,” Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The Algemeiner.
Under the 1979 peace treaty, Egypt can request permission from Israel to deploy more than the 47 battalions allowed. However, some estimates suggest that there are currently camps for 180 battalions.
“The Camp David Accords have long been a pillar of peace and stability in the Middle East,” Wahba explained. “A breakdown of the agreement would have serious implications, not just for Israel and Egypt but for the broader region. It could embolden actors like Iran and its proxies to exploit tensions and could lead to increased militarization along Israel’s southern border.”
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EU to Review Agreement With Israel Over Gaza Concerns, Kallas Says
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attends a press conference with Moldova’s President Maia Sandu following their meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
The European Union will review a pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel due to the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
International pressure on Israel has mounted in recent days amid complaints about the lack of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza and as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched a new military offensive against the Hamas terrorist group in the enclave.
Kallas said a “strong majority” of the ministers meeting in Brussels favored such a review of the agreement with Israel, known as an association agreement, in light of events in Gaza.
Diplomats said 17 of 27 EU members backed the review, which will focus on whether Israel is complying with a human rights clause in the agreement, and was proposed by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it’s a drop in the ocean. Aid must flow immediately, without obstruction and at scale, because this is what is needed,” Kallas told reporters.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the EU decision. Israeli officials have said their operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. Hamas also kidnapped several hostages that Israel is trying to free from captivity in Gaza.
Under the pact, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy.”
In a letter proposing a review, Veldkamp raised concerns about Israeli policies “exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.”
He also cited “statements by Israeli cabinet members about a permanent presence that alludes to a reoccupation of (parts of) the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon” and a “further worsening of the situation in the West Bank.”
On Tuesday, Dutch minister Veldkamp called the review “a very important and powerful signal,” echoing sentiments of officials from France and Ireland.
But others did not back a review. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky suggested the bloc could hold a meeting with Israel under the association agreement to raise concerns.
Kallas said EU sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank had been prepared but have so far been blocked by one member state. Diplomats said that country was Hungary.
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Syrian Leadership Approved Return of Executed Spy Eli Cohen’s Belongings to Israel, Sources Say
Nadia, widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, looks at photographs depicting her late husband during an interview with Reuters in Herzliya, Israel, Oct. 6, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Syria’s leadership approved the handover of the belongings of long-dead spy Eli Cohen to Israel in a bid to ease Israeli hostility and show goodwill to US President Donald Trump, three sources told Reuters.
Israel announced its recovery of the trove of documents, photographs, and personal possessions relating to Cohen on Sunday, saying its spy agency Mossad had worked with an unnamed foreign intelligence agency to secure the material.
However, a Syrian security source, an adviser to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and a person familiar with backchannel talks between the countries said the archive of material was in fact offered to Israel as an indirect gesture by Sharaa as he seeks to cool tensions and build Trump’s confidence.
Cohen, who was hanged in 1965 in a downtown Damascus square after infiltrating Syria’s political elite, is still regarded as a hero in Israel and Mossad’s most celebrated spy for uncovering military secrets that aided its lightning victory in the 1967 Middle East war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Cohen on Sunday as a legend and “the greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state.”
While Israel has long sought to recover his body for reburial at home, the return of his archive held for 60 years by Syrian intelligence was hailed by Mossad as “an achievement of the highest moral order.”
Israel has not publicly revealed how the archive came into its possession, saying only that it was the result of “a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service.”
Netanyahu’s office, Syrian officials, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Syria’s role in Israel‘s recovery of the Cohen archive.
COHEN DOSSIER
After rebels led by Sharaa suddenly ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending his family’s 54-year-long rule, they found the Cohen dossier in a state security building, according to the Syrian security source.
Sharaa and his foreign advisers quickly decided to use the material as leverage, the source added.
The Syrian security source said Sharaa had realized that the Cohen archive was important to the Israelis and that its return could amount to a significant diplomatic gesture.
Ending Israeli attacks on Syria and improving relations with the United States and other Western countries are vital for Sharaa as he seeks to revive his shattered country after 14 years of civil war.
Israel regards Sharaa and his ex-insurgents, who once formed the al Qaeda faction in Syria, as unreconstructed jihadists. Israeli forces staged an incursion into border areas last year and have repeatedly bombed targets in support of Syria’s minority Druze sect.
This month, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates had set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria that included efforts to build confidence between the sides.
There have also been other indirect channels for talks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In the talks, Syria agreed to measures including returning the remains of Cohen as well as three Israeli soldiers killed while fighting Syrian forces in Lebanon in the early 1980s, a person familiar with those talks said. The body of one of those soldiers, Zvi Feldman, has been returned, Israel said last week.
The return of the Cohen archive came in the context of those confidence-building measures and was done with Sharaa’s direct approval, the person said.
Last week, Trump held a surprise meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia where he urged him to normalize ties with Israel and announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria.
Syrian officials have said they want peace with all states in the region, and Sharaa confirmed this month that Damascus had carried out indirect talks with Israel via states it has ties with in order to calm the situation.
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