{"id":260566,"date":"2026-08-22T21:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/260566\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T21:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:23:09","slug":"tom-barrack-caught-between-israel-and-donald-trump-allies-over-syria-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/260566\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Barrack caught between Israel and Donald Trump allies over Syria policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dispute between Israel and US President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, intensified this week after comments he made on the Golan Heights and Turkey\u2019s role in Syria prompted criticism from Israeli officials and Trump allies who said his positions conflict with the president\u2019s stated policy.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar<\/a> criticized Barrack following the comments, saying they were \u201cfull of inaccuracies\u201d and included positions that \u201ccontradict the position of Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative activist Laura Loomer<\/a> also joined the criticism. Loomer, who maintains close and regular ties with Trump and is considered to have the president\u2019s attention, pointed to the proclamation Trump signed in 2019 and called on Barrack to resign over what she described as a lack of understanding of US foreign policy.<\/p>\n

This was not the first time this week that Loomer criticized the envoy. Following Barrack\u2019s condemnation of the Israeli strike on the Abu al-Duhur base in Syria<\/a>, she wrote that \u201cTom Barrack is without a doubt one of the worst choices of the Trump administration,\u201d adding: \u201cHe always sides with the bad guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turkey attempted to deploy Russian defense systems, Loomer claims<\/p>\n

Loomer claimed that Turkey attempted to deploy advanced Russian air defense systems at bases in Syria ahead of a possible deployment of Turkish aircraft in the country. A source familiar with the details confirmed to The Jerusalem Post\u00a0that Turkey is indeed seeking to deploy radar systems there and, in the future, air defense systems operated by Turkish soldiers.<\/p>\n

\"LauraLaura Loomer arrives ahead of former US President Donald Trump’s debate with Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, September 10, 2024. (credit: REUTERS\/EDUARDO MUNOZ)<\/p>\n

Barrack, however, offered a nearly opposite assessment. He described the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as one that does not take an aggressive approach, said Ankara is not interested in a military confrontation with Israel, and described the Israeli strike on the Syrian base as an \u201cunnecessary escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, Turkey was not warned about the strike, and its aircraft could have been scrambled toward Israeli aircraft, a scenario that could have led to a direct confrontation between Israel and a NATO member.<\/p>\n

Turkey researcher Sinan Ciddi described Barrack in an editorial in the New York Sun as \u201ca man of his own\u201d who at times acts independently from the State Department. The newspaper\u2019s editorial board went further, saying that Barrack sometimes appears more like \u201cErdogan\u2019s man in Washington, and not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sun also pointed to a gap between Barrack and Trump himself. While the envoy quickly condemned the strike in Syria, the president avoided doing so when asked about it.<\/p>\n

Israel’s concerns extend beyond the Syrian border<\/p>\n

Behind the exchange of statements lies a broader strategic struggle. Turkey has become one of the most important allies of the new regime in Damascus and is assisting in training the Syrian army, rebuilding state institutions, and developing infrastructure. Israel, meanwhile, fears that the Turkish presence could gradually become a permanent military deployment and alter the balance of power in Syria.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s concerns extend beyond the Syrian border. Turkish or Russian radar and air defense systems deployed in Syria could restrict the Israeli Air Force\u2019s freedom of action in Syrian airspace, an area that is strategically important for operations against Iran.<\/p>\n

Barrack himself highlighted the importance of the issue in recent interviews, describing Syria as a space that effectively provides Israel with an important air route toward Iran. From Israel\u2019s perspective, the establishment of a Turkish military presence in Syria is therefore not merely a dispute over the future of a neighboring country, but an issue directly affecting Israel\u2019s ability to act against the Iranian threat.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Barrack has portrayed Turkey\u2019s growing role in Syria in a much more positive light. He said Ankara does not seek to take control of Syria and recounted that Trump asked Erdogan why Turkey had not \u201ctaken\u201d Syria for itself after assisting forces that toppled Assad\u2019s regime. According to Barrack, Erdogan responded that he wants to see \u201ca sovereign and independent Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel has claimed that Syria was preparing to violate the security status quo and allow a Turkish deployment at the base after ignoring repeated warnings. Barrack, however, said the Americans examined information regarding a planned Turkish deployment and concluded that it was not taking place.<\/p>\n

He also raised the possibility that the strike was intended \u201cto lure the Turks\u201d into a confrontation and may have been linked to political considerations ahead of the Israeli elections. The dispute over the Turkish presence was also at the center of a rare conversation between Mossad chief Roman Gofman and the Syrian foreign minister days before the strike.<\/p>\n

The result is an unusual situation: One of Trump\u2019s senior Middle East envoys is engaged in a public dispute with the Israeli government, while figures in the president\u2019s own political camp accuse him of being too close to Erdogan. At the same time, the envoy\u2019s position appears to contradict Trump\u2019s recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.<\/p>\n

For now, Trump has not reversed the historic recognition he signed in 2019. That means that, at least on the Golan issue, the position presented this week by his Syria envoy does not align with the official policy set by the president himself, raising questions over the envoy\u2019s stance and the administration\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dispute between Israel and US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, intensified this week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[38,5740,669,95,3623],"class_list":["post-260566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-syria","tag-donald-trump","tag-gideon-saar","tag-golan-heights","tag-syria","tag-tom-barrack"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117141268612389594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}