Syria To Join Abraham Accords?

Trump Lifted Sanctions, Then Said What Syria Could Do By Way Of "Thank You"

President Trump met briefly with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa while in Saudi Arabia. In that brief meeting he pushed a proposal that could have significant ramifications for the balance of power in the Middle East.

Trump had already stated he was prepared to lift sanctions on Syria, a request that had been made by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In his meeting with President al-Sharaa, President Trump suggested how Syria could reciprocate Trump’s generosity: join the Abraham Accords.

Per the readout provided by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

Today, President Trump, at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. President Erdogan of Turkey joined by phone. President Erdogan praised President Trump for lifting sanctions on Syria and committed to working alongside Saudi Arabia to encourage peace and prosperity in Syria. The Crown Prince also commended President Trump for his decision to lift the sanctions, calling it courageous. President Trump thanked President Erdogan and the Crown Prince for their friendship, and told President Al-Sharaa that he has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country. President Trump encouraged President Al-Sharaa to do a great job for the Syrian people, and urged him to:

1. Sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel

2. Tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria

3. Deport Palestinian terrorists

4. Help the United States to prevent the resurgence of ISIS

5. Assume responsibility for ISIS detention centers in Northeast Syria

President Al-Sharaa thanked President Trump, the Crown Prince, and President Erdogan for their efforts to put together the meeting, and recognized the significant opportunity presented by the Iranians leaving Syria, as well as shared U.S.-Syrian interests in countering terrorism and eliminating chemical weapons. President Al-Sharaa affirmed his commitment to the 1974 disengagement with Israel. President Al-Sharaa concluded with his hope that Syria would serve as a critical link in facilitating trade between east and west, and invited American companies to invest in Syrian oil and gas.

The Russia-Ukraine war and the war in Gaza was also discussed.

The first item is the most significant, as the remainder are inevitable consequences of Syria electing to sign on to the Abraham Accords with Israel.

Acceding to the Abraham Accords would not merely mean Syria was normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel. The Abraham Accords involve establishing peaceful relations and the pursuit of greater economic cooperation.

While not formally establishing alliance between Israel and the signatory Arab states, they do establish a framework for improving the overall prosperity of the Middle East, with Israel and the signatory Arab states pursuing joint economic goals.

Syria joining the Abraham Accords would signify the new Syrian government is firmly looking to the West for future engagement, and away from Iran. Russia would also be effectively shut out of Syria.

Syria signing the Abraham Accords would also build pressure for Saudi Arabia to do likewise. As one of the leading Arab states and the de facto leader of the OPEC cartel, Saudi Arabia’s accession would almost certainly bring along other Arab states as well.

Will Syria sign the Abraham Accords? Nobody knows.

Will Israel negotiate with the new Syrian government on signing the Abraham Accords? Nobody knows.

However, President Trump has put that out there. Having lifted sanctions on Syria, he’s asking the new regime to show that it will not be a jihadist government and a threat to Middle East peace.

It might work. It might not. It is at the very least a departure from the status quo thinking which has utterly failed to deliver peace for the Middle East.

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