Syria reimagined: From military threat to geostrategic competitor

Recent days have marked a significant advancement in the efforts to rebuild Syria after a devastating 15-year civil war.

In a notable development, French President Emmanuel Macron made a formal visit to Damascus – the first such visit in 18 years – becoming the first Western leader to do so since the collapse of the Assad regime in late 2024. During this visit, the French Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart signed a framework agreement aimed at bolstering political, economic, and institutional ties across various sectors.

Immediately following this historic meeting, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa received an invitation from President Trump to attend the NATO summit in Türkiye, a nation that now acts as the international backer of Syria's new regime. In Ankara, Trump informed al-Sharaa of his intention to remove Syria from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. Within a week, the first Syrian-American Business Forum convened in Damascus, with the participation of Jacob McGee, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.

From Israel's perspective, these high-level political meetings, along with the subsequent legal and economic initiatives, signify a critical shift like the challenge posed by Syria. For decades, under Assad's brutal regime, which had maintained close ties with Iran, Damascus was viewed as a significant security and military adversary – directly threatening Israel and enabling the significant arms buildup of Hezbollah, Iran’s primary regional proxy in Lebanon.

However, the regime's unexpected collapse, following a swift ground assault by al-Sharaa’s Islamist opposition forces two years ago, transformed this threat into a new Israeli concern: the emergence of a radical Islamist adversary operating under the influence of the anti-Israel Turkish government.