On December 1, U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Israel maintain a “strong and true” dialogue with Syria, stressing that nothing should happen “that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state.”

He added that Washington was “very satisfied” with the progress achieved by Syria’s new government, and said that President Ahmed al-Sharaa was “working diligently to make sure good things happen, and that both Syria and Israel will have a long and prosperous relationship together.”

Trump wrote on his Truth Social network: “This is a historic opportunity, and adds to the SUCCESS, already attained, for PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!”

His post came days after an Israeli incursion into the town of Beit Jinn in rural Damascus, which sparked clashes with Israeli forces that were unprecedented since the fall of the Assad regime. The raid resulted in the deaths of 13 Syrian residents. This coincided with media reports in Israel that the country is planning a military escalation into southern Syria aimed at establishing a buffer zone.

Damascus, which strongly opposes such a move, now appears caught between the ambitions of Trump and the opportunism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Beit Jinn attack became a focal point of these divergent positions; Trump went as far as publicly expressing his opposition to the raid.

Trump’s positive stance toward the Syrian government is not a personal one, nor is it representative of the Republican administration’s position; it dates from the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the final days of the Biden administration. That said, Trump’s goal of ending the war between Syria and Israel and bringing about a peace agreement between them is in keeping with his claims to have ended six or seven wars. He is also on a quest to expand the Abraham Accords peace agreements with Israel to include Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, with his eye ultimately on a Nobel Peace Prize.

Yet Trump’s ambitions run counter to the blatant opportunism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is exploiting the economic and military weakness of Syria after years of war. Netanyahu is also fueling and capitalizing on Syria’s domestic divisions to incite against the government and support breakaway movements—particularly the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which seek to establish Kurdish autonomy in northeastern Syria, and armed militias loyal to Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a Druze religious leader in the southern province of Suwayda, who also aspires to establish an autonomous region openly affiliated with Israel.

Netanyahu Seeks Support

Trump and Netanyahu have several shared motives for stabilizing the new regime in Syria. They include ending the presence and influence of Iran and its proxies, combating terrorism, fighting drug production and trafficking, establishing an inclusive, non-sectarian government, and ensuring Syria remains committed to refraining from threatening Israel. Yet Netanyahu has other demands, which he seeks to achieve by pressuring Trump. They include securing a pardon in legal cases against the premier in the Israeli courts, and obtaining the U.S. President’s support so he can remain at the head of the Israeli government.

The Israeli premier, by declaring the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, staging incursions into Syrian territory, and occupying new positions, is also seeking to secure Trump’s support for a new security deal. This is especially pertinent given the approaching end of the UNDOF peacekeeping force’s mandate, on December 30, and Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu’s vision for security arrangements south of Damascus: establishing a buffer zone, preventing the deployment of the Syrian army there, imposing a no-fly zone, and the question of an Israeli humanitarian corridor to Suwayda.

All of this falls under Israel’s strategy to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attacks by Hamas—to which Netanyahu frequently compares the Syrian government—and prevent Trump from greenlighting any potential deployment of Turkish forces in central and southern Syria.

Netanyahu’s opportunism with Trump regarding the Syrian issue also has repercussions for other matters, such as whether other Arab states like Saudi Arabia enter into peace agreements with Israel, maintaining good relations with Türkiye, and the potential for Russia to regain influence in Syria. This weakens Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine and resolve conflicts in the Middle East, in order to focus on his economic war with China.

At the current moment, after nearly a year of consistent Israeli policy toward the new regime in Syria, Netanyahu’s opportunism appears set to overrule Trump’s ambitions. The most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history is not particularly interested in peace agreements in the region, and is especially uneasy with the new regime in Damascus in its current form—despite the considerable flexibility it has shown toward Israel. Consequently, Netanyahu can be expected to press onward with his efforts to pressure Trump over his policies toward Syria.