Trump urges Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to sign Abraham Accords recognizing Israel
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to sign on to the Abraham Accords during a brief meeting in Saudi Arabia early Wednesday, one day after lifting all sanctions on the war-torn Middle Eastern country.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of a Gulf Cooperation Council gathering in Riyadh, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan phoning into the conversation.
Syria currently doesn’t recognize Israel’s statehood, and the Abraham Accords were just one of Trump’s requests to Syria in an effort to normalize relations between the two neighbors.
Trump also told the Syrian leader to deport all foreign terrorists from his country — including Palestinians — help the US prevent the return of ISIS in the region, and take control of terror detention centers in northeastern Syria, per the White House.
The president’s announcement that he was lifting sanctions on Syria prompted a standing ovation from Saudi leaders and businessmen at an investment forum on Tuesday.
“I felt very strongly that this would give them a chance,” Trump said at the GCC meeting on Wednesday. “Gives them a good, strong chance … it was my honor to do so.
“We are currently exploring normalizing with Syria’s new government,” he said.
He later told reporters on Air Force One en route to Qatar that he thought the new 42-year-old Syrian leader was a “young, attractive guy.”
“Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
“He’s got a real shot at holding it together. I spoke with President Erdogan, who is very friendly with him,” Trump said. “He feels he’s got a shot of doing a good job. It’s a torn-up country.”
Trump also said he thought the new Damascus government would eventually agree to signing the Abraham Accords.
“I think they have to get themselves straightened up. I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But they have a lot of work to do.”
Al-Sharaa, 42, is a career militant who fought US troops as a member of Al Qaeda in Iraq in the early 2000s before founding the terrorist group’s Nusra Front affiliate in Syria in 2012.
He broke with al Qaeda’s leadership in 2016 and has sought to rebrand himself as a defender of Syria’s religious diversity, which includes Christians and Alawites, both of whom comprise more than 10% of the population, and Druze, who comprise about 3%.
Trump called on Syria to recognize Israel after also calling on Saudi Arabia to do so, saying Tuesday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would “be greatly honoring me” by joining the landmark agreements.
The Abraham Accords were negotiated in 2020 during Trump’s first term by his son-in-law and then-White House adviser Jared Kushner.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates initially agreed to establish relations with Israel under the accords, and later were joined by Morocco and Sudan.
The Jewish state previously had relations with just two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, as part of prior peace deals.
Syria recognizing Israel would be a shocking development, including because the government of Turkey, al-Sharaa’s primary patron, has poor relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli military recently bombed Syria to defend Druze citizens during sectarian violence.
Israel also has annexed the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War, to halt rocket fire from the sparsely populated and mountainous region. Trump recognized Israel’s annexation of the region during his first term, despite most countries considering the area an occupied part of Syria.
