Netanyahu: a “very short and very blunt” conversation with al-Sharaa – the first public contact between Israeli and Syrian leaders, and Damascus’s reply

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed that he spoke by phone with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during the bloody clashes in Sweida, in southern Syria, in July 2025. “It was a very short, very blunt conversation, and the massacre [of the Druze] stopped,” Netanyahu said on Thursday, October 15, at a Likud campaign event with Druze voters in Yarka, in northern Israel, according to Ynet. “I will do whatever is necessary to protect our Druze brothers. There is still work to be done and I cannot reveal everything,” he added.

According to Ynet, the call was made on Netanyahu’s initiative and his message was that, if the massacre did not stop, Israel would escalate its strikes against the regime in Damascus. In those days Israeli aircraft had hit Syria’s defence ministry and a target inside the presidential palace compound. Al-Monitor notes that this is the first contact between Israeli and Syrian leaders to become publicly known, as the two countries have no diplomatic relations and have fought several wars. Netanyahu gave no exact date, and the disclosure comes less than two weeks before the election of October 27.

Damascus: neither confirmed nor denied

Damascus “neither confirmed nor denied” the conversation, according to analysis by the Jerusalem Post and The Media Line. An anonymous official source, speaking to the state news agency SANA, rejected attempts to involve Syria’s Druze community in the Israeli election campaign, calling it an integral part of the national fabric. The same source argued that American mediation, not the phone call, stopped the Israeli strikes, and called for pressure on Israel to respect the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

Analysts quoted by The Media Line are cautious. “Any political contact between the two sides could be a first step towards reducing tensions, but it does not necessarily mean a peace agreement is close,” said Syrian analyst Firas Allawi. Retired pilot Khaled Mansour noted that lasting peace requires workable understandings and verification mechanisms, not mere contacts. The head of Syria’s Jewish community, Bahour Smadoub, said: “The region is tired of wars and peace is necessary.”

Israel–Syria talks on security issues have been held with American mediation since 2025. In August the head of Mossad, Roman Gofman, spoke with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani about Turkey’s military presence in Syria, and Jordan hosted Syrian–Israeli talks on August 23. Al-Sharaa has said he seeks a security agreement with Israel. More than 3,500 people were killed in the Sweida clashes in July 2025, and Greece, at the UN Security Council, called for the protection of all communities in Syria.