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UAE Mediating Secret Talks Between Israel and Syria, Sources Say
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 13, 2025. Photo: Syrian Presidency/Handout via REUTERS
The United Arab Emirates has set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria, three people familiar with the matter said, as Syria‘s new rulers seek regional help to manage an increasingly hostile relationship with their southern neighbor.
The indirect contacts, which have not been previously reported, are focused on security and intelligence matters and confidence-building between two states with no official relations, a person with direct knowledge of the matter, a Syrian security source and a regional intelligence official said.
The first source described the effort, which began days after Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa visited the UAE on April 13, as currently focused on “technical matters,” and said there was no limit to what may eventually be discussed.
The senior Syrian security source told Reuters the backchannel was limited strictly to security-related issues, focusing on several counterterrorism files.
The source said that purely military matters, particularly those concerning Israeli army activities in Syria, fell outside the scope of the current channel.
The intelligence source said UAE security officials, Syrian intelligence officials and former Israeli intelligence officials were involved in the mechanism, among others.
They spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Syria‘s presidency and the UAE foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment.
The mediation effort preceded Israeli strikes in Syria last week, including one just 500 meters (yards) from the presidential palace in Damascus, and Reuters could not establish if the mechanism has been used since the strikes occurred.
Israel has framed the strikes as a message to Syria‘s new rulers in response to threats against Syria‘s Druze, a minority sect that is an offshoot of Islam with adherents in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
Informal mediation between Israel and Syria aimed at calming the situation has taken place in the last week via other channels, according to one of the sources and a regional diplomat. They declined to elaborate.
Syria‘s government has condemned Israel‘s strikes as escalatory and as foreign interference, and says the new government in Damascus is working to unify the country after 14 years of bloodletting.
The new rulers have also made repeated efforts to show they pose no threat to Israel, meeting representatives of the Jewish community in Damascus and abroad and detaining two senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
A letter sent by Syria‘s foreign ministry to the US State Department last month, seen by Reuters, said “we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party, including Israel.”
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Israel has struck in Syria for years in a shadow campaign aimed at weakening Iran and its allies, including Lebanese Hezbollah, who grew their influence after entering the country’s civil war on the side of former President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli military operations have escalated since rebels ousted Assad in December, saying it will not tolerate an Islamist militant presence in southern Syria. Israel has bombed what it says are military targets across the country and Israeli ground forces have entered southwestern Syria.
Reuters reported in February that Israel has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralized and isolated, framing its approach around suspicion of Sharaa – who once headed a branch of al-Qaeda before renouncing ties to the group in 2016.
The UAE government also has concerns about the Islamist bent of Syria‘s new leaders, but Sharaa’s meeting with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan last month went very well, the sources said, helping to assuage some of Abu Dhabi’s concerns.
The sources noted the meeting lasted several hours, making Sharaa late for a subsequent engagement.
The backchannel with Israel was established days later, the sources said.
Damascus sees the UAE‘s ties with Israel, established in a historic US-brokered deal in 2020, as a key avenue to address issues with Israel, given the absence of direct relations between the two states.
Israel‘s latest strikes in Syria followed days of clashes between Sunni Muslim and Druze gunmen triggered by a voice recording of unclear origin purportedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed, leaving more than two dozen people dead.
Syria‘s government has since reached an agreement with Druze factions in the Druze heartland region of Suweida to hire local security forces from their ranks, in a move that has so far reduced tensions.
The fighting posed the latest challenge for Sharaa, who has repeatedly vowed to unite all of Syria‘s armed forces under one structure and govern the country, fractured by 14 years of civil war until Assad’s overthrow.
But incidents of sectarian violence, notably the killing of hundreds of pro-Assad Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now-dominant Islamists and sparked condemnation from global powers.
The post UAE Mediating Secret Talks Between Israel and Syria, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
The post Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
The post Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a news conference at the Arab Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”
His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway… It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,” the Saudi minister said.
On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Bin Farhan’s visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory.
An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a “provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.
An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them.
The post Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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