Syrian and Arab participants, alongside Israeli attendees, gathered in Tel Aviv at the invitation of Israeli journalist Eddie Cohen for an event billed as the “Minorities Conference.” Speakers criticized interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his government and called for establishing separate mini-states for minorities in Syria, sparking debate on social media.
The conference, held on 27 October, drew around 30 attendees, including Syrian Hassan Merhej, who identifies as a Middle East affairs expert and is a frequent guest on Israeli television channels. Merhej advocated for separation and the creation of independent minority statelets in Syria.
Other participants included Syrian Tamim Khromachou, a member of the Levant Council in the United States, and Abedalelah Almaala, a Jordanian politician residing in Israel. Druze Sheikh Marwan Kiwan from Suwayda (southern Syria) joined via video link.
Israeli attendees included TV journalist Zvi Yehezkeli, the Arab affairs commentator at I24, Israeli historian Mordechai Kedar, Professor Moshe Cohen-Elya, and Israeli Knesset member Akram Hasson.
Knesset member Akram Hasson told the conference that “what happened to the Druze clergy in Syria resembles what the Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis,” adding that all Israeli institutions would “forcefully combat what he called takfiri terrorism.”
He also called for “a global institution for all minorities in the Middle East” that could influence the United Nations and international courts to hold “terrorists” accountable.
Recommendations adopted by the conference
Establish a regional liaison office bringing together politicians and activists representing the region’s components, funded by voluntary donations from those interested in minority affairs in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Israel.The office would coordinate efforts and track shared developments related to minority rights and protection. Retain a legal firm in Israel directly linked to the liaison office to prepare monthly reports submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Knesset Security Committee, and the Foreign Ministry, in addition to urgent special reports when field or political developments require immediate follow-up. Create an official media platform representing the liaison office, issuing a semi-monthly bulletin on the situation of minorities in the region and building professional partnerships with major Israeli newspapers and relevant media institutions to promote transparency and the circulation of reliable information. Launch a dedicated fund to receive individual and collective complaints from minority members, guaranteeing full confidentiality and data protection to enable systematic documentation and legal-humanitarian processing of violations. Call for combating all forms of ideological, religious, and political extremism and takfiri organizations such as the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which, according to the conference, “rules Syria today under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly Abu Mohammad al-Jolani),” due to the ongoing threat posed to minority rights and religious freedoms in the region. Affirm support for the right of the region’s components to freely exercise self-determination within legal and international frameworks, in a way that enables locally tailored governance and administration respecting each component’s religious, cultural, and intellectual specificities while also driving economic, scientific, and social development and entrenching justice and equal citizenship.Prior cases
Before the fall of the previous regime, several Syrians sought engagement with Israel, among them Kamal al-Labwani, Issam Zeitoun, and Fahd al-Masri.
Kamal Labwani: In an interview with the Elaph website, he called for Israeli military intervention in support of the Syrian opposition in exchange for relinquishing the Golan, and he visited Israel in September 2014 to take part in a counter-terrorism conference. The move drew strong condemnation from the Syrian opposition, which disavowed him.
Issam Zeitoun: Claimed to represent the Free Syrian Army at Israel’s Herzliya Conference on national security in June 2016. Zeitoun’s name first appeared, according to Lebanon’s al-Akhbar newspaper, in documents the paper said were leaked from an Israeli officer’s office in June 2015. Al-Akhbar reported that Zeitoun asked FSA leaders in the Syrian–Palestinian border region to receive aid and supplies from Israel, without further details.
Fahd al-Masri: In December 2016, he addressed an open letter to the Israeli public, in the name of the “National Salvation Front,” about peace between Israel and a “new” Syria.
“Aim: partitioning Syria”
Zakaria Malahfji, Secretary-General of the Syrian National Movement, argued that the conference reflects Israel’s continued use of regional crises to serve its political projects. He wrote in an opinion piece on the movement’s platform that the conference’s core carries “a highly dangerous political project” for Syria’s national fabric and the very idea of the state.
He wrote in an opinion piece on the movement’s platform that Israel “does not host ‘humanitarian’ conferences for free,” since it knows well that the gravest threat to any state is internal division, and that the quickest way to weaken Syria is not across borders but through minds nourished by narrow loyalties instead of an inclusive national identity.
Malahfji sees the invitation’s timing as “sensitive,” amid regional repositioning and attempts to rebuild relationships on new foundations. By contrast, he contends, Israel seeks to cement the idea of a “New Middle East,” in which each sect or ethnicity becomes an independent political entity, presenting itself as the “legitimate” model of a religious-national state in the region.
The genuine Syrian response to such conferences, he wrote, “is not merely denial or anger, but a comprehensive national identity and inclusive participation that rebuild trust among all components of Syrian society.” He called on Syrians to rediscover what unites them rather than what divides them, highlighting the responsibility of intellectual, political, and media elites to craft a new discourse that transcends sectarian language and opens a page focused on “the state and citizenship.”
“It is no coincidence,” he added, “that Israel hosts such a conference at precisely this moment.” According to him, Israel understands that restoring Syria’s regional stature and strength can only happen through Syrian unity, and that any internal division is a strategic gain for Israel, which seeks to capitalize on past and present mistakes.
Syria’s stance toward Israel
Events in Suwayda (southern Syria) did not halt talks between Syria and Israel, which reportedly continued in rounds from Paris to London under the auspices of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, though they stumbled over Israel’s insistence on a humanitarian corridor to Suwayda, Reuters reported on 26 September, citing four sources.
In a 15 October interview with CBS, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Israel must withdraw from any points it advanced to after 8 December 2024. He described that as “the natural situation,” adding that since the current government arrived in Damascus, Syria has not engaged in any provocations toward Israel, and has clearly stated it “will not be a platform to threaten any neighboring state, including Israel.”
Al-Sharaa said Israel is trying to drag Syria into conflict through “repeated provocations relying on military force.” He labeled the policy “mistaken and a threat to regional stability,” warning that its continuation could push U.S. allies to “seek alternative options because of the risks created by Israeli actions in the region.”
Comparing Israel’s stated security concerns with its behavior on the ground, al-Sharaa said “it is Syria that should fear for its security, not Israel,” noting that “Israel violates Syrian airspace daily and strikes military and civilian sites,” and that invoking the protection of the north or south is “a laughable pretext despite the pain those policies cause.”
Israeli actions in Syria
After the fall of the former regime on 8 December 2024, Israel pushed into areas along the Syrian border. It struck what it said were 80% of Syrian military assets, while publicly raising the banner of “protecting the Druze” and their security.
On 30 April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel would not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria, “stemming from our deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel, who have family and historical ties with their Druze brothers in Syria.”
During the July events in Suwayda, Israel struck Defense and Interior Ministry forces around the governorate, as well as the General Staff building in Damascus and the Presidential Palace. Katz said, “Israeli strikes on Syrian government targets in Suwayda and Damascus were the only way to stop the massacre of the Druze in Syria.”
The Suwayda crisis began on 12 July with reciprocal kidnappings between residents of the al-Maqous neighborhood in Suwayda, where many Bedouins live, and members of the Druze community. It escalated the next day into armed clashes.
The Syrian government intervened on 14 July to halt the conflict. Still, its intervention coincided with violations against Druze civilians, prompting local factions, including some that had cooperated with the Defense and Interior Ministries, to respond.
Government forces withdrew from Suwayda on 16 July after Israeli strikes. Subsequent violations and reprisals targeted Bedouin residents, which led to armed tribal convoys entering the governorate in so-called “tribal relief” columns.
Later, Syria and Israel reached a U.S.-mediated agreement to halt military operations.
Al-Sharaa in Two Speeches: From Confronting Israel to Consolidating the Role of the State
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