Israeli and Syrian Officials to Meet With Trump Envoy Witkoff in Paris to Talk Security Pact

Israeli and Syrian officials are set to meet with a U.S. delegation in Paris on Monday to discuss the resumption of negotiations toward a security accord between Israel and Syria, Haaretz has learned.

According to information obtained by Haaretz, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, is set to head the Israeli delegation for talks on a potential security alliance with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, and the Trump administration’s special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.

On Monday, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary, Roman Gofman, and National Security Council head Gil Reich, are also expected to attend the meeting.

On Monday, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that the Syrian delegation is seeking to advance a security accord that would guarantee a full Israeli withdrawal from positions held before December 8, 2024, under a reciprocal ‌security agreement guaranteeing full Syrian sovereignty.

Also on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told Haaretz that Trump made clear to Netanyahu during their December meeting in Florida that he is seeking tangible progress toward an agreement. The sources added that, regarding Lebanon, Trump has granted Israel relative freedom of action in strikes against Hezbollah.

The discussions in Paris will also focus on reviving a 1974 disengagement agreement that established a UN-monitored buffer zone between Israel and Syria after the 1973 Middle East war, SANA said.

Israeli troops advanced deeper across the border after Assad was toppled on December 8, 2024, by rebel fighters who assumed Syria’s leadership. Israel has also intervened in Syria in what it calls missions to protect the ethnic minority Druze in southwestern Syria.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stated after he met with Trump at the White House in November that he would sign a security accord with Israel only if Israel withdraws from the territories it entered following the fall of the Assad regime.