{"id":592790,"date":"2026-08-22T18:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T18:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/592790\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T18:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T18:16:11","slug":"us-envoy-israeli-strike-on-syria-election-related-intended-to-provoke-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/592790\/","title":{"rendered":"US envoy: Israeli strike on Syria election-related, intended to provoke Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Israeli strike on the Abu al-Duhur<\/a> military base in Syria on Tuesday, which nearly led to a direct military confrontation with Turkey, may have been intended to provoke Ankara and could have been linked to political considerations ahead of Israel\u2019s elections, US Special Envoy to Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack suggested on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Mario Nawfal on X\/Twitter, Barrack<\/a> stressed that this was only one possible theory, not an intelligence-based conclusion.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, one possibility is that \u201cthe Israelis were baiting the Turks,\u201d partly against the backdrop of a previous incident in which Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet that approached its border. He described a situation in which fighter jets operate near a border without coordination or warning as a \u201cvery dangerous game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrack directly linked this possibility to Israeli politics, saying that the strike<\/a> may have been a \u201cvery aggressive but maybe a well-received pre-election concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the interview, Barrack discussed how domestic politics can shape the rhetoric of regional leaders.<\/p>\n

\"AbuAbu al-Duhur base is seen following reported Israeli strikes, Syria, August 18, 2026 (credit: REUTERS\/STRINGER)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you’re hearing in rhetoric amongst the senior leaders of these countries is they have to, during a political campaign, which everybody is in, right?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu is moving toward October,” Barrack noted. “He knows what his constituency wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrack: Erdogan may soon call early elections<\/p>\n

He added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also approaching a decision on whether to call early elections and must consider his voters, who are particularly sensitive to developments in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Barrack also presented a second theory regarding the circumstances that led to the strike: that Israel received intelligence indicating Turkish military personnel or military assets could be stationed at the Syrian base<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, Israel raised the concern with the United States about six days before the strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some intelligence that there might be Turkish movement into this site, which we would be very concerned about,\u201d Barrack said, describing the message delivered to Washington.<\/p>\n

However, according to Barrack, the US reviewed the intelligence with relevant officials and received a clear response: \u201cNo, that’s not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments come amid reports of behind-the-scenes contacts before the strike. According to Barrack\u2019s account, the issue was examined through diplomatic channels, including a backchannel conversation lasting about two hours between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and the Mossad chief.<\/p>\n

Despite those contacts, Israeli Air Force aircraft appeared and struck the base\u2019s runways without Turkey receiving advance warning of the operation.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, the incident then escalated from another Israeli strike in Syria into a moment that could have triggered a far more dangerous regional confrontation.<\/p>\n

Barrack emphasized that the Turkish military is strong, well-equipped, and possesses significant intelligence capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they see these jets coming towards the border, and they don’t know what the purpose, direction, or intent is, they start to say ‘we’re going to have to scramble our own.’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Such a scenario could have led to a possible aerial encounter between Israeli and Turkish aircraft and a direct confrontation between Israel and Turkey, a NATO member and one of the United States\u2019 most important allies in the region.<\/p>\n

Barrack was asked whether such an incident could have escalated into \u201cWorld War III.\u201d He said that almost any unintended incident could lead to broader escalation, but stressed that, in his assessment, neither side intends to reach such a confrontation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank goodness, palm heads really came to the moment of the day, and we unwrapped it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, it was one of those moments when \u201cfor many of us, our whole life went in front of us,\u201d leading to the conclusion: \u201cThere’s got to be a better way, guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrack emphasized that, in his understanding, Ankara is not seeking a war with Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the Turks, their intelligence agency, their hierarchy, their foreign minister, the president, the head of intelligence, all are concentrating on restraint,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re not predatory,” he added. “They’re not interested in attacking or even engaging in any kind of kinetic or adversarial relationship with Israel. It’s not good for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrack said both sides are ultimately looking for a way to de-escalate, but that from Turkey\u2019s perspective, the Palestinian issue is even more important than Iran. According to him, developments in Gaza are a major concern for both the Turkish public and the broader Muslim public.<\/p>\n

Behind the immediate confrontation lies a much broader strategic struggle over the future of Syria following the fall of the Assad regime, according to Barrack.<\/p>\n

Syrian territory provides Israel with ‘a clear line of sight to Iran,’ Barrack says<\/p>\n

Israel wants Syria to remain free of military systems that could limit its freedom of action in the region, particularly against Iran. Barrack previously described Syrian territory as providing Israel with \u201ca clear line of sight to Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turkey, meanwhile, is expanding its military and political position in the new Syria. Barrack said Turkey\u2019s growing influence as a regional power is raising concerns among other actors, but expressed hope the sides can maintain restraint.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, US President Donald Trump recently asked Erdogan why Turkey did not simply \u201ctake\u201d Syria for itself, given the role it played in developments there.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, Erdogan responded: \u201cBecause we don\u2019t want it. We want Syria to be a sovereign and independent country.”<\/p>\n

Barrack also addressed mutual concerns over territorial ambitions. According to him, maps are published in Turkey showing what is allegedly a vision of \u201cGreater Israel,\u201d while in Israel, maps appear warning of \u201cOttoman Empire 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t think any of those things are true,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the severe crisis, Barrack revealed that behind the scenes there is also security cooperation between Turkey, Israel, and Syria over a shared threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery evening… we have coordination between Turkey, Israel, and Syria, hunting ISIS terrorists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Barrack, the group is attempting to exploit the governing vacuum created in Syria to rebuild itself.<\/p>\n

Barrack recalled that in the early 2000s, Israel and Turkey enjoyed a period of \u201choneymoon\u201d relations and hoped the two countries could eventually return to a similar relationship.<\/p>\n

However, this week\u2019s incident highlighted how dangerous the path toward such a relationship remains. According to Trump\u2019s envoy, Israeli aircraft approached the Turkish border without warning; Ankara began considering scrambling its own fighter jets, and for several moments two key US allies came close to a confrontation that, according to Barrack, neither side truly wants.<\/p>\n

Defense Minister Katz: Barrack’s statements ‘full of inaccuracies’<\/p>\n

After Barrack’s statements, Defense Minister Israel Katz said they were “full of inaccuracies” and argued they contradicted US President Trump’s positions.<\/p>\n

“The attempt by opposition figures and parts of the media to paint the operation in Syria in political colors stems from a combination of ignorance, a lack of understanding of Israel\u2019s security interests, and a constant desire to attack the government, and deserves every condemnation.<\/p>\n

“The response of US envoy Barrack is full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict Trump\u2019s own position regarding the Golan Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katz also claimed that the IDF issued a direct warning to senior Syrian officials before strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airfield “in an attempt to prevent the move.”<\/p>\n

“After the request went unanswered, the prime minister and I authorized the IDF to carry out the strike, and it was carried out successfully. Erdogan was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and was forced to back down,” Katz said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israeli strike on the Abu al-Duhur military base in Syria on Tuesday, which nearly led to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37916,40919,49,42,46,3794,47,43,4713,39366,40,38,41,39,1582,1032],"class_list":["post-592790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-ambassador","tag-ankara","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-headlines","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-syria","tag-tom-barrack","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-turkey","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}