Three weeks after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the new Syrian government says it wants to establish cordial relations with Israel. This was stated by the governor of Damascus, Maher Marwan, during an interview with NPR in his office in the Syrian capital.
Speaking on behalf of Syria's new leader, Ahmed el-Sharaa, Marwan stressed that Syria poses no threat to Israel. “We are not afraid of Israel, and our problem is not with Israel," he asserted, adding that Syria does not wish to ‘interfere in anything that would threaten Israel's security or that of any other country’.
Since the fall of the Syrian regime, Israel has carried out strikes against strategic military installations in Syria and seized parts of the Golan Heights, stoking fears of annexation.
Marwan described these Israeli actions as "natural," understanding Israel's concerns about regime change.
The governor also called on the United States to facilitate improved relations with Israel, stressing that there is “a people who want coexistence, who want peace, who don't want conflict.” According to American sources quoted by NPR, Washington has already relayed this message from the new Syrian government to the Israeli authorities.
Furthermore, during this interview, the governor made no reference to the Palestinian question or the war in Gaza.
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