With US approval, Russia mediates negotiations between Syria and Israel
A report aired by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) on Thursday, 25 December, revealed a Russian move, with reported US approval, to mediate between Israel and Syria in talks aimed at reaching a security agreement between the two sides.
According to an Israeli security source familiar with the negotiations, Moscow and Damascus have worked in recent weeks to strengthen coordination between them.
KAN said Russia has recently deployed troops and equipment to the Hmeimim Air Base in Latakia (on Syria’s Mediterranean coast), in preparation for launching Russian patrols in southern Syria.
According to the same source, Russia is seeking to redeploy Syrian army forces in southern Syria near the border with Israel, similar to the situation before the collapse of the previous regime.
A joint delegation from the Syrian and Russian defense ministries conducted a field tour on 17 November, visiting a number of military points and sites in southern Syria.
The visit aimed to review the situation on the ground as part of the ongoing cooperation between the two sides, according to what the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported at the time.
A source from Quneitra province (southwestern Syria), who preferred not to be named for security reasons, told Enab Baladi at the time that the convoy stopped at two sites considered among the most prominent points that witnessed Russian deployment during the era of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. They were the al-Nasiriya area (Quneitra province, southwestern Syria), which previously hosted a Russian base, and the al-Hiran area (Quneitra province, southwestern Syria), where Russian officers were previously present, according to the source.
The al-Hiran area included several old military outposts belonging to the ousted Assad regime’s army, at a distance of about three kilometers from the border line, “without any clear activity being carried out.”
Israel prefers, according to KAN, a Russian presence in southern Syria, considering it an alternative to any Turkish attempt to expand or entrench itself in that sensitive area.
The security source told KAN that despite the Russian mediation, differences between Damascus and Tel Aviv remain, but the past weeks have seen “relative progress” in the track of indirect talks.
Saudi displeasure
In the regional context, KAN reported that Saudi Arabia continues to harden its position against any potential agreement between Syria and Israel, and has told the US administration that Israeli behavior in Syria is contributing to diminishing the prospects of normalization between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
KAN quoted sources in the Saudi royal family as saying Riyadh believes Israel “does not want a stable state in Syria,” but seeks to keep it weak or divided, and that this approach will negatively affect the normalization track.
Saudi Arabia continues to insist on an unchanged condition, linking any agreement with Israel to tangible progress toward a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue.
Israeli sources said Riyadh has, in recent months, sent “angry” messages to Washington over Israeli policies in Syria, and has begun using this file as additional leverage in the normalization talks.
According to Israeli assessments, the absence of a security agreement that eases tensions in Syria will further complicate the scene and push the Saudi normalization track even farther away, a path that already faces major obstacles due to Saudi Arabia’s firm stance on the Palestinian issue.
The security agreement between Syria and Israel reportedly stalled in September due to Israel’s demand to be allowed to open a “humanitarian corridor” to Suwayda province (southern Syria), Reuters reported at the time.
[Source: Enab Baladi English]
