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Nour Yusri
This report provides a review and analysis of the most important things published in Israel about Syria last April, at the beginning of a series of monthly reports that monitor the shape of the Israeli position towards the new Syria in a critical historical period that may determine the future of the relationship between Syria and its most problematic neighbours.
The report is based on a systematic research in which we tracked the media, research centers, content published on the X website, and statements by members of the government and the Knesset, resulting in a detailed database that allowed us to know the most prominent topics that occupied public opinion, and identify its trends and recurring patterns.
Three topics dominated the Israeli content on Syria during the study period: Syria’s role in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the future of the relationship between Israel and Syria, in addition to the demonstrations that took place in support of the Palestinians regarding the issuance of the prisoner execution law.
Syrian involvement in the “Hezbollah” issue
Syria finds itself part of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, due to geographical borders and the legacy left by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The Israeli media regularly tracks the party’s activities in Syrian territory, which the new government is trying to prevent, whether on the border, or by dismantling the cells that are active in various parts of the country.
Two pieces of news received a lot of attention in Israel, as the Syrian security services announced the arrest of a Hezbollah cell that was planning to assassinate a Jewish rabbi in Damascus, and another that was preparing to launch missiles toward Israel from the south.
The Organization for Defense of Democracies, an American research center linked to the Israeli lobby, published an article claiming that such incidents “reveal Hezbollah’s determination to destabilize Syria, and represent an opportunity for American-brokered Israeli-Syrian cooperation against the party’s activities.”
As for the “ALMA” Center, it saw that such incidents are a negative indicator that reveals “the depth of foreign elements’ penetration into Syrian territory,” and that Syria remains “a major source of instability.”
The media also covered the issue of the imminent bombing of the Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, as the Israeli army issued a warning to evacuate it, but contacts made by the Syrian and Lebanese governments with the United States prevented this, as the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that America asked Israel to refrain from carrying out the strike “for political reasons,” and to leave dealing with the smuggling issue to the Syrian security forces.
With the entry into force of the truce between Israel and Hezbollah, the focus shifted from field developments to the diplomatic track, and the Broadcasting Corporation said that Syria is closely monitoring the negotiations, and that, despite its support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, it is keen to take its interests into account in any agreement reached, especially with regard to the issues of border demarcation, maritime borders, and sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms.
The Lebanese Hezbollah flag in front of a destroyed house following an Israeli raid following the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli war on Iran – March 23, 2026 (Reuters)
Course of negotiations
The topic that followed Lebanon in terms of intensity in Israeli content was the course of negotiations and the future of the relationship with Syria. Various media outlets reported the statements of the Syrian President, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and the American envoy, Tom Barrack, at the Antalya Forum.
Al-Sharaa said that Damascus chose the path of diplomacy despite what he described as Israel’s “brutal” treatment of it, and that the negotiations did not collapse, but rather proceeded slowly. He stated that the main obstacle is Israel’s insistence on remaining in Syrian territory.
As for Barak, he revealed that he led five rounds of talks, and that reaching an agreement was close, but the talks collapsed, attributing this to the complex security reality. Barak pointed out that Israel continues its operations inside Syria, even though the latter “has not fired a single bullet at it” since the fall of Assad.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa meets with the American envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum – April 16, 2026 (Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic)
Protests disturb Israelis
The third topic was the protests that took place in several governorates against the law on executing Palestinian prisoners, which the Israelis followed with great annoyance. The right-wing newspaper, “Israel Hayom,” which is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, focused on some demonstrators imitating the execution of a doll representing him, saying that “incitement against Israel is raging in Syria.” It detailed the scene and the protesters counting down while chanting “God is Great” at the moment the doll was thrown from the balcony.
Alma Center researcher Zoe Levernick said that the scenes coming from Syria cannot be reduced to a reaction to the Gaza war. In her opinion, a number of forces intersect in fueling these protests and exploiting them, namely: “the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements,” the “Salafi-jihadi” elements in Syria that are using the protests to destabilize the regime, and Iran seeking to “reopen the Syrian front in the face of Israel and undermine the Sharaa government.” As for the Syrian government’s response, it considered it “hesitant and indecisive.” I attributed this position to a combination of fear that the government would appear to be suppressing solidarity with the Palestinians, and the view by some of its members of the events as a useful pressure card on Israel in light of the faltering negotiations.
On the other hand, journalist Doron Peskin wrote in the newspaper “Calcalist” an article with a very aggressive tone, and said that “everyone in Jerusalem or Washington imagined the possibility of normalization with Syria, or at least a quiet security arrangement, received a painful blow this week.” He described both the Syrian street and the government as “ideological enough to incite against Israel, but unable to feed themselves,” adding that it is an illusion to believe that Gulf money can make Syria a stable neighbor, Any investment in infrastructure and improving people’s lives without “demanding a fundamental change in the regime’s system of values” is a financial gamble that ends in a “painful security blow.”
About two weeks after the events, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted a Syrian official as saying that the Syrian security services carried out “many more arrests than were announced, which took place out of the limelight, and targeted protesters who raised Hamas flags.”
According to the commission, the Syrian official told it that “supporters of Hamas, Hezbollah, and pro-Iranian militias want to lead us toward destruction.” But the author of the article added that “sympathy for Hamas is still widespread in Syria,” adding that “this was evident at the Damascus International Book Fair, where many books glorifying the movement were offered for sale.”
Protest in front of the Emirati embassy in Damascus in rejection of the Israeli Knesset’s decision allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners – April 3, 2026 (Syrian News)
Less present files.. but heavy
In addition to these three topics, the Israeli content dealt with other files with a less quantitative presence, but they are likely no less heavy in the Israeli mind.
At the forefront of these files is Syria’s relationship with the United States, where Tom Barrack’s statements were met with clear anger, accompanied by a campaign of attacks by Israeli sources that publish in English and address the Western public.
The Organization for Defense of Democracies published a long article co-written by its Executive Director, Jonathan Chazner, in which it accused Barak of serving Turkish interests at the expense of American and Israeli interests, and denounced his statements at the Antalya Forum. The organization said that Barak gives Erdogan “legitimacy” at a time when “Türkiye continues to support Hamas, launder Iranian money, and transfer advanced weapons to Syria,” calling on President Trump to hold his ambassador accountable.
In addition, some Hebrew sources also reported news of the historic withdrawal of American forces from all Syrian territory.
While others were interested in a report published by the American newspaper “The New York Times” about the efforts made by two Syrian billionaires from the “Al-Khayyat” family to push the Trump administration and Congress towards lifting sanctions on Syria.
Some voices also believed that what happened in the “Factory Corridor” case, with Syrian success in preventing the strike, is a negative indicator and a warning bell that must be heeded. The director of the “Syrian Program” at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, Carmit Valensi, commented on the incident, saying that “freedom of action in Syria is no longer as absolute as it was before,” and warned that “the close relationship between Syria and the United States creates a different reality on the ground, and Israel will likely need to coordinate its actions with the Americans, if not with Shara personally.”
Türkiye also keeps the Israelis busy. The Iran war did not prevent the Israeli media from paying attention to it as a new threat that must be contained and prepared to confront. For example, Maariv quoted the orientalist and researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Defense, Yoni Ben Menachem, as saying that “Turkey is the new Iran,” and that what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is doing goes beyond mere public statements hostile to Israel, and that Turkey is not content with political steps, but rather is increasing its military presence in Syria in coordination with Sharaa.
In an article published by the “Globes” website about the Iran war, the writer touched on the incident of the fall of a component of an American interceptor missile from the “THAAD” system in southern Syria, and the concern that such advanced technology would reach Turkey through the Syrian regime, where it could be used to develop similar systems locally, through “reverse engineering.”
A man raises the Iranian flag after US-Israeli raids (EPA)
Concern about transportation and energy corridors
The Israeli media also followed with interest what was related to the use of Syrian lands in regional projects related to transportation and energy, in steps that were actually under study, but the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz accelerated their progress.
The Calcalist newspaper reported that the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced the export of diesel through Syria, and that it had signed cooperation contracts with the “SUMO” company to transport hundreds of thousands of tons of oil and fuel from the Saudi and Syrian deserts.
While the newspaper “Maariv” followed the passage of Iraqi oil containers to the Al-Tanf crossing, on their way to the Baniyas refinery. On another level, the same newspaper wrote about the agreement between Turkey, Syria, and Jordan to cooperate in a project to modernize railway networks, with the aim of establishing “a land transport corridor extending from southern Europe to the Arabian Gulf.”
Researcher and former government official Galit Cohen expressed her concern about such projects, saying that the Strait of Hormuz crisis created an opportunity for Israel, and that if it is not exploited quickly, “alternative corridors will emerge that completely ignore Israel, as Turkey is working hard to create a corridor from Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean, and Iraq is also trying to promote its own path.”
Regarding energy as well, the “Jerusalem Institute for Strategic and Security” believes in a report that this sector represents one of the most prominent files that Israel can employ in its relationship with Syria in the long term, and that it must engage in the regional energy system that is currently being formed, in order to strengthen its influence in the face of Turkey and Qatar, and gain an important pressure card on Syria.
Finally, some Israeli sources did not fail to note the intense diplomatic activity of the Syrian President during the period of war in the region. Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Al-Sharaa made two important visits to Berlin and London, and his reception of Ukrainian President Zelensky in Damascus, saying that while “everyone was fighting,” Syria was able to achieve important diplomatic achievements.
Iraqi oil tanks on the Baniyas road as they head to unload their cargo at the Baniyas estuary in preparation for exporting oil to global markets – April 9, 2026 (SANA)
A negative character…but with an ambition for cooperation
In general, the Israeli treatment of the new Syria is predominantly negative, making it very different from its counterpart in the Western media, which shows a lot of acceptance and openness.
At the same time, there is a clear state of contradiction, which lies in the mixing of the negative outlook with an ambition to cooperate and reach agreements that benefit Israel, and a general classification of the change in Syria as a good event and a positive result of the Israeli military agitation after October 7.
This is not the case that there are conflicting opinions between the right and the left, but rather a real contradiction led by the most extreme sources themselves.
We find that the pens that insist on using the name “Al-Julani” to refer to the Syrian president, aspire at the same time to a scenario in which Israel works with Syria against “Hezbollah” in Lebanon. The American-Syrian relationship that disturbs the Israelis is the same one that wants to push Syria to a path of understanding with them.
This contradiction may be a feature of this early phase of the post-Assad period, and will be resolved in the coming months. It will either take a confrontational path with both Syria and Turkey, or move towards moderation and calm, especially if there is progress in the negotiations sponsored by the United States.
The decisive factor in pushing Israel toward one of the two paths may be what Turkish researcher Omar Ozkizilcik mentioned, and was reported by Maariv newspaper, which is the result of the war on Iran and the ongoing negotiations to end it. If the terms of the agreement are satisfactory to Israel, it may adopt the “turn on Turkey” doctrine and direct its resources towards a more aggressive approach towards Damascus. However, if the agreement is fragile, Israel may find itself forced to close at least one regional front, which makes Syria a natural candidate for de-escalation.
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Tel Aviv is watching Damascus…a report analyzing the Israeli mind after Assad
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