Ahmed al-Sharaa, a founding member of ISIS and former commander of Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, is now being welcomed as a head of state. This week, the longtime militant—better known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani—is expected to meet with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia.

According to multiple reports, the two are negotiating a deal that could pivot Syria away from the Iran-led Axis of Resistance and toward the U.S.-Israeli alliance. In return, Syria would receive sanctions relief and the promise of American investment, including a Trump Tower in Damascus.

The meeting marks a dramatic reversal in American foreign policy. Al-Sharaa, once hunted with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, now proposes normalized relations with Israel and has launched a sweeping crackdown on Palestinian resistance factions operating in Syria.

Trump’s visit to Riyadh is part of a broader initiative involving top U.S.-allied Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. The talks are reportedly aimed at crafting a regional normalization framework that would see Israel integrated more deeply into Arab diplomacy, potentially offering limited Palestinian statehood in return.

According to officials briefed on the negotiations, al-Sharaa’s inclusion in the Riyadh summit reflects Washington’s growing willingness to rehabilitate Syria under new leadership, as long as Damascus aligns with Israeli security interests, distances itself from Iran, and opens its markets to U.S. capital. The Trump-al-Sharaa meeting is seen as a test case for this strategy.

Al-Sharaa appears eager to prove his value in this new U.S.-led framework. Over the past several weeks, his government has enacted a series of dramatic moves aimed at demonstrating compliance with Israeli and American priorities, chief among them a crackdown on Palestinian resistance groups historically protected by Damascus.

One of the most significant arrests occurred shortly after Israeli airstrikes struck just 500 meters from the Syrian presidential palace earlier this month. Syrian security forces detained Talal Naji, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC). Naji is widely believed to be the only living person who knew the location of missing Israeli soldier Zvi Feldman’s remains.

Feldman disappeared during the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, a fierce confrontation between Israeli and Syrian forces during the First Lebanon War. He and other Israeli soldiers were reportedly captured by Palestinian groups and paraded through Damascus atop a seized Israeli tank.

Naji was reportedly held for less than 24 hours and then released. One week later, Israel announced that Feldman’s body had been recovered from Syria in a joint operation by the Mossad and the Israel Defense Forces. The timing fueled widespread speculation that Naji had disclosed the location to Syrian authorities, who then quietly handed it over to Israel.

Al-Sharaa’s broader effort to appease Washington has also included the arrest of two senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ): Khaled Khaled and Yasser al-Zafari. Khaled oversaw PIJ’s operations in Syria, while al-Zafari led the group’s organizational committee. Following these detentions, reports emerged that Damascus had established a formal body to monitor and curtail the activities of Palestinian groups.

Reuters reported that al-Sharaa has offered the U.S. access to Syrian oil and gas fields and proposed joining a future expansion of the Abraham Accords, a Trump-era normalization initiative between Israel and several Arab states. These proposals were echoed by The Times, which independently confirmed that normalization is being offered in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions.

Two U.S. lawmakers who visited Syria in late April confirmed that al-Sharaa expressed interest in normalizing relations with Israel. One of them, Rep. Cory Mills, told Bloomberg that he made clear to al-Sharaa that such a deal would require prior “assurances” to Israel.

The diplomatic overtures have been paired with striking shifts in Syrian rhetoric. Unlike his predecessor, Bashar al-Assad, who referred to Israel as “the Zionist entity,” al-Sharaa now uses the term “the State of Israel.” Syria’s new foreign minister, Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, echoed that change, stating in his first weeks in office that Israel’s existence is “a proven fact.”

In a symbolic break with the past, Israeli journalist Itai Anghel was recently invited to Damascus. He was given access to military sites, the former Iranian embassy, and reportedly shown classified documents by Syrian officials. Israeli citizens were previously banned from entering Syria.

Al-Sharaa first confirmed indirect talks with Israel during a speech in Paris last week. “To calm and contain the situation so matters don’t reach a point where both sides lose control,” he said. His comments came just days after Reuters revealed that the United Arab Emirates had mediated early talks beginning April 13. The UAE has denied its role.

Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot later reported that three rounds of direct talks had taken place, during which both sides sat at the same table and shared refreshments. The sessions were described as exploratory and non-binding.

Meanwhile, officials in Damascus have made a public show of distancing Syria from Iran and Hezbollah. State media published images of weapons allegedly intercepted en route to Lebanon. Syrian authorities now claim that the only forces within Syria threatening Israel are those aligned with Tehran.

Even the mayor of Damascus, Maher Marwan, has joined the campaign, calling for normalization with Israel in remarks delivered in December.

If these reports prove accurate, Syria’s new leadership is orchestrating one of the most dramatic realignments in modern Middle Eastern history. And it is doing so at a moment when Gaza faces one of the deadliest chapters in its history. From most-wanted terrorist to Washington’s potential partner, al-Sharaa’s transformation is not just symbolic, it’s strategic.

Feature photo | Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa listens during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 7, 2025. Stephanie Lecocq | Pool via AP

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

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