Why is the US targeting Syria for normalization with Israel?
By: Pizaro Gozali Idrus*
1. The US has recently been reported to have offered the new Syrian government to normalize with Israel.
2. Interestingly, the party sent by Washington to discuss this with Syria was not Marco Rubio (US Secretary of State) or Steve Witkoff (US Envoy to the Middle East) but rather US Congressman from the Republic of Corry Mills who is also a former Iraq war veteran.
3. By not sending high-level diplomats, this is the US's way of reading in advance how Syria's foreign policy and Ahmad Sharaa's thoughts on Israel are.
4. This is actually not a new approach. Since Ahmad Sharaa visited the UAE, this proposal has also been offered by the Emirates which is a US-Israeli ally in the region. Because Damascus could become a time bomb if it continues to develop.
5. But until today there has actually been no official statement from Damascus regarding its intention to build relations with Tel Aviv. According to Syrian government sources, in the meeting Ahmad Sharaa focused more on urging Israel to leave Syrian territory rather than discussing normalization with Israel. So Syria's statement that it will build normalization with Israel for now is actually a premature conclusion.
6. The question is: Why is Syria being targeted by the US to enter the Abraham Accord scheme? This is inseparable from the weakening of Netanyahu and the continued strengthening of Hamas. The wave of anti-genocide petitions within Israel has now reached almost 150,000 signatures.
7. Israel is also facing a phenomenon that has only happened once in history where from the air force, pilots, officers, military doctors, the Golani elite combat brigade, armored units to intelligence units openly criticized Netanyahu's actions and launched a petition to strike war.
8. The wave of anti-war actions did occur within the Israeli army in 1987 and 2000. But it has never been this big.
9. Not to mention that Hamas has so far failed to be conquered by Israel. The proposal to disarm apparently did not shake Hamas.
10. The latest fact of the ground battle that Israel tried to free the hostages only resulted in a new wave of Israeli soldier deaths. This is also what made Mahmoud Abbas have to vent his emotions urging Hamas to surrender.
11. What happened in Syria cannot be separated from the geopolitics of the Middle East as a whole. The strengthening of the new Syrian government that is not friendly to the occupiers will only be a time bomb to paralyze the power of the occupiers.
12. The situation is getting more complicated with Trump's tariff war which apparently did not make all countries submit. Moreover, this also leads to Asian and African solidarity to face the world's great powers.
13. Not to mention, Trump's efforts to reduce the influence of China, which is Washington's main economic competitor, apparently did not make Beijing submit. China returned sanctions to the US.
14. Trump imposed a reciprocal tariff of 145% on Chinese imports entering the US. China retaliated by imposing a 125% tariff on US imports sold to its country.
15. Trump is a US leader who always includes economic considerations in his security policy in the Middle East. Here the US has a card, namely the lifting of sanctions on the new Syria.
16. US economic sanctions against Syria are sanctions that prohibit almost all sectors of the Syrian economy, including new investment and trade with Syrian companies.
17. These sanctions are aimed at the Syrian government, but have a negative impact on the Syrian people, such as reducing access to basic needs and health services.
18. US sanctions also make it difficult for foreign banks to make payments to Syria, because transactions with Syria and the use of dollars in transactions are prohibited.
19. This condition is exacerbated by Bashar Assad's efforts to rob Syria's wealth for his own interests.
20. The British media, Financial Times (FT) reported in mid-December that the Syrian Central Bank had sent US$250 million (Rp4 trillion) in cash to Vnukovo Airport, southwest of Moscow, Russia, in the 2018-2019 period for Assad's interests.
21. FT also reported the fact that the Assad family apparently owns at least 18 luxury apartments in Moscow. His extended family also purchased assets in Russia between 2018 and 2019.
22. While the Assad family and their cronies enjoy their wealth, the Syrian people are starving.
23. The World Bank report in 2022 said 14.5 million people, almost 70% of the population, live in poverty, while extreme poverty affects one in four people.
24. A similar situation occurred when President Trump lifted sanctions on Sudan. Sudan has been on the US terrorist list since 1993 because it is accused of supporting groups such as al-Qaeda and harboring Osama bin Laden.
25. After al-Bashir was removed in 2019, Sudan began to undergo a democratic transformation and normalized relations with Israel in 2020. The US also revoked Sudan's status as a state sponsor of terrorism after that.
26. Therefore, amid the economic struggle and the eroding US influence, Trump needs new partners in the Middle East and the world.
27. The Israel-Syria normalization is just Washington's entry into the Middle East. This is not just about Syria. But this is Trump's attempt to "make America great again in the Middle East"
28. Washington expects the Arab world to remain an ally of the US in the midst of an increasingly multipolar world and the rise of China's power.
29. Elon Musk has predicted the destruction of the US economy if Washington is late to act. Musk is worried about the increasing US national debt, now reaching USD36.22 trillion. Interest payments on the debt alone are a huge and increasing burden that absorbs 23 percent of Washington's budget.
30. However, normalization will not be easy for Syria. Israel is not a country that can keep its promises. The Gaza genocide is evidence of a series of violations of the agreements signed by Israel and the US.
31. Trump's claims as a torch of peace in the Middle East are just false claims seeing Washington's blessing to carry out further genocide in Gaza. And now the world has lost trust in them.
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-Executive Director of the Baitul Maqdis Institute
-PhD Candidate in International Relations at the Center for Policy Research USM Malaysia
