Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Thursday during a Druze community conference that he had spoken directly with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa over the phone.
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“I spoke with al-Sharaa. It was a very brief conversation, very direct, and the massacre stopped,” Netnayahu said.
Netanyahu emphasized Israel’s commitment to the alliance with the Druze community.
“I will do whatever is necessary to protect our Druze brothers. There is still work to be done. I cannot reveal everything.”
This is the first public announcement of a direct connection between Netanyahu or any other senior Israeli official and Sharaa.
Until now, the known contacts with Damascus were conducted mainly with the Syrian Foreign Minister, Assad al-Shibani, and other Syrian officials.
The senior Israeli officials who managed these back channels include former Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer during several meetings in Paris and London; Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter during rounds of talks in Paris; and Mossad Chief Roman Gofman in a phone call in August 2026 and a meeting in Jordan.
The Americans tried to promote a trilateral summit between President Trump, Netanyahu, and al-Sharaa as part of efforts to reach a security arrangement between Israel and Syria, but the attempts were unsuccessful.
Last month, Guy Azriel published the words of a senior political official who told i24NEWS that Israel maintains communication channels with the Syrian regime and that Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara is “a dialogue partner.”
The official also clarified that a previous attempt to reach a security agreement between the sides was unsuccessful.
“Sharaa is a dialogue partner; we have channels of communication with the Syrian regime. The question is the substance of the dialogue,” the source said. “In the past, about a year ago, we held talks in an attempt to reach a security agreement. In the end, it did not succeed,” he added.