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Syria’s New Leader Is an Autocrat; Will That Be Good or Bad for Israel and Turkey?
Syria’s newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salam, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 2, 2025. Photo: Bandar Algaloud Saudi Royal Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
Islamist or not, Syria’s self-proclaimed interim president, Ahmad Sharaa, seems like he will do anything to keep power.
This is good news and bad news for Sharaa’s two strongest neighbors — Turkey and Israel — whose interests clash in Syria. The Trump administration thinks that the best outcome is to deconflict tensions between the two regional powers. The gap, however, seems unbridgeable.
Ankara wants a strongman protégé in Damascus, whose top priority is to break Kurdish power and autonomy in the northeast. Jerusalem, for its part, has strong ties with Syria’s Kurds and does not want to see others trample on them.
The arbiter here is Washington, which relied heavily on these Kurdish fighters in defeating ISIS and keeping their leaders locked up in prisons under Kurdish supervision.
The US has maintained a minor military presence in Kurdish territories in northeast Syria, which has bolstered the Kurds and helped them wither down one Turkish military offensive after another.
But now that President Trump is in office, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thinks that he can convince Trump to fold, hoping that such an American move would weaken the Kurds and allow pro-Turkish Syrian militias to run over Kurdish territory.
Washington has encouraged the Kurds to sort things out with Damascus, because American troops will not stay forever. Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi has met with Sharaa twice, signing an agreement to “discuss” the unification of their ranks.
But unification is tricky. Sharaa thinks that he is Syria, and that his militia is the national army. He has thus demanded that other militias surrender their arms to his “army.”
The Kurds countered by saying that they are willing to join a national army, but one whose bylaws and structure are agreed upon. The Kurds seek a merger with Sharaa, not a surrender to his militia.
To buy them out, Sharaa has contemplated granting the Kurds their demands: Kurdish battalions in the army, under Kurdish officers, stationed in the northeast, and administrative autonomy. But these Sharaa concessions conflict with Turkey’s demand for absolute surrender, even humiliation, of the Kurds. This is where the interests of Ankara and Sharaa diverge and this is when the Turks might consider supporting Sharaa’s Islamist rivals — such as Abu Amsheh or Hassan al-Dgheim — to take him out and take his place.
Where does Israel stand on this? Jerusalem supports an agreement between the Kurds and Sharaa on Kurdish terms, even if the agreement results in Sharaa becoming Syria’s undisputed autocrat thereafter. Israel, therefore, disagrees drastically with Turkey.
Israel also has other allies in Syria: the Druze in the south. Like the Kurds, the Druze have demanded Druze battalions, under senior Druze officers, stationed in their territory as a guarantee that they will not be subjected to Sharaa’s future possible Islamist tyranny, and to avoid a repeat of past ISIS massacres against them. Granting the Druze, and Israel in general, their demands in the south, is easier for Sharaa than giving the Kurds concessions.
Sharaa, however, has not yet conceded anything to anyone. The Kurds and the Druze, in return, have not surrendered their arms or power. And while Sharaa is busy building his power base in Damascus, both Turkey and Israel have relied on their own forces to protect their interests inside Syria.
Turkey’s Syrian militias have launched a few attacks on the Kurds, all failing and retreating. The Turkish air force has repeatedly struck targets in the landlocked Kurdish enclave.
Israel, for its part, has been more active inside Syria, with its fighter jets policing and striking the remnants of pro-Iran militias, such as Hezbollah, while also making sure to destroy all heavy weapons south of Damascus.
As Turkey and Israel carve their own spheres of influence inside Syria, Syrian national unity becomes elusive. Sharaa’s insatiable appetite for undisputed power makes national reconciliation ever harder.
America has correctly tied lifting of the crippling sanctions it has imposed on the Syrian government, under former President Bashar al-Assad, to Sharaa sharing power with Kurds, Druze, Alawites, and others.
The Europeans have insisted that Sharaa weed out radical Islamists, especially foreign fighters. The interim president has yet to do either. Until he does, an economy in tatters will make rebuilding the state an even more gargantuan task.
To give Sharaa credit where it is due, in his bid to build his dictatorship, he has been responsive in dealing with the different foreign intelligence agencies: Jordanian and Gulf governments commend his cooperation in stopping the narcotics trade, while America praises his crackdown on ISIS. Even Israel has telegraphed to Sharaa its intentions whenever it struck inside Syria. In return, the budding Syrian autocrat has steered clear from bombastic anti-Israel populism.
But is Sharaa’s cooperation enough for a new and better Syria? So far, things do not seem to be on the right track.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. X: @hahussain
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Noa Tishby Releases Free Passover Cookbook in Collaboration With Jewish Chefs, Social Media Food Influencers
Ben Soffer and Noa Tishby holding up plates of kosher-for-Passover BBQ potato chip-crusted chicken with pickled coleslaw and ranch dressing. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Israeli actress, author, and activist Noa Tishby released a mini cookbook for Passover on Wednesday that features seven recipes from Jewish chefs and social media food influencers ahead of the Jewish holiday that begins this weekend.
Tishby’s cookbook includes recipes for breakfast foods, soups, main dishes, snacks, and desserts. The two-time New York Times best-selling author, who is also Israel’s former special envoy for combating antisemitism, teamed up with Jewish foodies who include cookbook authors Jake Cohen and Eitan Bernath, celebrity private chef Brooke Baevsky, who goes by the Instagram handle Chef Bae, and recipe developer Sivan from Sivan’s Kitchen.
Ben Soffer, better known by his social media handle BoyWithNoJob, shares the recipe for his barbecue potato chip-crusted chicken with pickled coleslaw and homemade ranch dressing, while chef, cookbook author, and restauranteur Beejhy Barhany gives step-by-step directions of how to make Ethiopian, gluten-free matzah. Writer and producer-turned-food-traveler Phil Rosenthal, from the Netflix docuseries “Somebody Feed Phil,” also joins Tishby and her sister as the three of them make Tishby’s “favorite childhood matzah cake.”
Tishby is privately messaging Instagram users a link for the free Passover cookbook after they comment “Passover” on her posts about the various recipes. She filmed videos with each recipe developer, as they cooked together dishes from the book, and she is now sharing those clips on her Instagram page and YouTube. She posted on Thursday a video of her cooking with Soffer, and he talks about a childhood memory of never finding the afikomen on Passover, as well as what he loves the most about the Jewish holiday.
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Iran Says External Threats Could Lead It to Suspend Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran may suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if external threats continue, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump again warned of military force if Tehran does not agree to a nuclear deal.
Iranian and American diplomats will visit Oman on Saturday to start dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program, with Trump saying he would have the final word on whether talks are reaching a breakdown, which would put Iran in “great danger.”
“Continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published on X, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Transferring enriched material to safe and undisclosed locations in Iran could also be on the agenda,” he wrote.
While the US insists that the talks with Tehran will be direct, Iran has stressed the negotiations will be indirect with intermediation from Oman’s foreign minister.
During his first 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran‘s sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment, according to the IAEA.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
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US Immigration Agency to Monitor Social Media for Antisemitism When Approving ‘Permanent Resident Status’
Prisoners stand looking out from their cell as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks while touring the Terrorist Confinement Center, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. Photo: Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it will monitor social media platforms for antisemitic speech and conduct as a basis for denying permanent residency status and immigration benefits.
The agency announced that the new policy is set to take effect immediately and will be applicable to both green card applicants and international students.
USCIS will specifically search for expressions of support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — all of which regularly call for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Social media posts that reflect, promote, or endorse “antisemitic activity” will be considered in the discretionary evaluation process for immigration benefits.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has emphasized issuing punishment and deportation for non-citizens who support antisemitic violence and terrorism, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
“The United States has no tolerance for those who sympathize with terrorists from around the globe, and we are not required to allow them entry or permit them to remain in our country,” McLaughlin stated.
“Secretary Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for antisemitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here,” McLaughlin added.
In addition, the agency says that it will consider social media posts it deems as “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting” antisemitic conduct or terrorist organizations.
In the months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, universities in the US have emerged as hubs of anti-Israel activism. Last spring, anti-Israel students and faculty erected so-called “Gaza solidarity encampments,” occupying sections of campus and refusing to leave unless the school agreed to a boycott of Israel. Many Jewish students have reported incidents of bullying and exclusion because of their religious identity and support for Israel during the protests.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, US President Donald Trump vowed to deport non-citizens who express support for Hamas and other antisemitic organizations. He has also promised not to import refugees from “terror-infested” parts of the world, deeming them hotbeds of antisemitism and anti-American sentiment.
“We will deport the foreign jihad sympathizers, and we will deport them very quickly. And Hamas supporters will be gone,” Trump said. “If you hate America, if you want to eliminate Israel, then we don’t want you in our country. We really don’t want you in our country.”
Nico Perrino, executive vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, condemned the new directive from the Trump administration.
“Surveillance of protected speech shows the Trump administration is trading the country’s commitment to free and open discourse for fear and silence,” Perrinon said. “Unfortunately, that chill appears to be the administration’s aim.”
During his initial months in the White House, Trump. has issued a series of directives aimed at reining in antisemitic conduct. The White House has withheld federal funds from universities that it claims have failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination. In addition, the White House has moved to deport non-citizens who have participated in anti-Israel demonstrations or spread antisemitic rhetoric.
According to recent polling data from Harvard-Harris, most Americans, 63 percent, believe that the Trump administration should “deport” foreign students who “voice support” for terrorist groups like Hamas, while a slightly higher 67 percent want such deportations for non-citizens on campuses who “actively support” such terrorist groups.
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